The role of the blobs in determining the perception of drifting plaids and their motion aftereffects

Peter Wenderoth, Macquarie University
David Alais
Darren Burke
Rick van der Zwan, Southern Cross University

Abstract

Motion aftereffects (MAEs) can be induced by adaptations to a pair of differently oriented drifting gratings whether the gratings are presented simultaneously, as a coherent plaid, or in alternation. The fact that the former MAEs were generally larger than the latter led to the suggestion that simultaneous adaptatian involved higher-level extrastriate processes not involved in the alternating effects. In the past few years evidence has accumulated that the difference is in fact due to a low-level monocular precast which may be termed the 'blob-teaching mechanism'. A review is presented of the evidence an MAEs induced by simultaneous and alternating adaptation, the evidence for the monocularity of the blob-teaching mechanism, the data which implicate the blob monocularity in the determinatian of MAE magnitude, perceived plaid drift direction, and in perceived plaid coherence.