Representational momentum

Representational momentum is a small, but reliable, error in our visual perception of moving objects. Representational moment was discovered and named by Jennifer Freyd and Ronald Finke.[1] Instead of knowing the exact location of a moving object, viewers actually think it is a bit further along its trajectory as time goes forward. For example, people viewing an object moving from left to right that suddenly disappears will report they saw it a bit further to the right than where it actually vanished. While not a big error, it has been found in a variety of different events ranging from simple rotations[1] to camera movement through a scene.[2] The name "representational momentum" initially reflected the idea that the forward displacement was the result of the perceptual system having internalized, or evolved to include, basic principles of Newtonian physics,[3] but it has come to mean forward displacements that continue a presented pattern along a variety of dimensions, not just position or orientation.[4] As with many areas of cognitive psychology, theories can focus on bottom-up or top-down aspects of the task. Bottom-up theories of representational momentum highlight the role of eye movements and stimulus presentation,[5][6] while top-down theories highlight the role of the observer's experience and expectations regarding the presented event.[4][7]

  1. ^ a b Freyd, J. J.; Finke, R. A. (1984). "Representational momentum". Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 10: 126–132. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.10.1.126.
  2. ^ Munger, M. P.; Dellinger, M. C.; Lloyd, T. G.; Johnson-Reid, K.; Tonelli, N. J.; Wolf, K.; Scott, J. M. (2006). "Representational momentum in scenes: Learning spatial layout". Memory & Cognition. 34 (7): 1557–1568. doi:10.3758/bf03195919. PMID 17263079.
  3. ^ Freyd, J. J. (1987). "Dynamic mental representations". Psychological Review. 94 (4): 427–438. doi:10.1037/0033-295x.94.4.427. PMID 3317470.
  4. ^ a b Hubbard, T. L. (2010). "Approaches to representational momentum: Theories and models". In R. Nijhawan; B. Khruana (eds.). Space and time in perception and action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 338–365. ISBN 9780521863186.
  5. ^ Kerzel, D. (2005). "Representational momentum beyond internalized physics: Embodied mechanisms of anticipation cause errors of visual short-term memory". Current Directions in Psychological Science. 14 (4): 180–184. doi:10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00360.x. S2CID 49216324.
  6. ^ Kerzel, D. (2006). "Why eye movements and perceptual factors have to be controlled in studies on "representational momentum"". Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 13 (1): 166–173. doi:10.3758/bf03193829. PMID 16724785.
  7. ^ Hubbard, T. L. (2005). "Representational momentum and related displacements in spatial memory: A review of the findings". Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 12 (5): 822–851. doi:10.3758/bf03196775. PMID 16524000.