Perception of the difference between past and present stimulus: A rare orientation illusion may indicate incidental access to prediction error-like signals

Staadt, Robert; Philipp, Sebastian Thomas; Cremers, Joschka L.; Kornmeier, Jürgen; Jancke, Dirk

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0232349

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…The retinotopic character of the conditioning effects, as reported in the literature and described above, indicate mechanisms at lower levels of the processing hierarchy, where receptive elds are reasonably small. However, similar priming and adaptation effects have been reported for a variety of stimuli at very different levels along the perceptual hierarchy, from the perception of contrast 47 , motion 48,49 , line orientations 50 , up to the perception of the emotional content of faces 51 and even with numerosity 52 .…”

Section: Perception and Imaginationsupporting

confidence: 65%

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Visual imagination can influence visual perception – towards an experimental paradigm to measure imagination

Mozhdehfarahbakhsh,

Hecker,

Joos

et al. 2024

Preprint

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During visual imagination a perceptual representation is activated in the absence of sensory input. This is sometimes described as seeing with the mind’s eyes. A number of physiological studies indicate that the brain uses more or less the same neural resources for real visual perception and visual imagination. The intensity of visual imagination is typically assessed with questionnaires, while more objective measures are missing. Aim of the present study was, to test a new experimental paradigm that may allow to objectively quantify imagination. For this we used priming and adaptation effects during observation of ambiguous figures. Our perception of an ambiguous stimulus is unstable and alternates spontaneously between two possible interpretations. If we first observe an unambiguous stimulus variant (the conditioning stimulus), the subsequently presented ambiguous stimulus can either be perceived in the same way as the test stimulus (priming effect) or in the opposite way (adaptation effect) as a function of the conditioning time. We tested for these classical conditioning effects (priming and adaptation) using an ambiguous Necker Cube and Letter /Number stimuli as test stimuli and unambiguous variants thereof as conditioning stimuli. In a second experimental condition, we tested whether the previous imagination of an unambiguous conditioning stimulus variant – instead of its observation – can have similar conditioning effects on the subsequent test stimulus. We found no systematic classical conditioning effect on the group level, neither for the cube stimuli nor for the letter/number stimuli. However, highly significant correlations between effects of Real and Imaginary condition were observed for both stimulus types. The absence of classical condition effects at the group level may be explained by using only one conditioning time, which may fit with individual priming and adaptation constants of some of our participants but not of others. Our strong correlation results indicate that observers with clear classical conditioning effects have about the same type (priming or adaptation) and intensity of imaginary conditioning effects. As a consequence, not only past perceptual experiences but also past imaginations can influence our current percepts. This is further confirmation that the mechanisms underlying perception and imagination are similar. Our post-hoc qualitative observations from three self-defined aphantasic observers makes our paradigm a promising objective measure to identify aphantasia.

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Section: Perception and Imaginationsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…It is well-known that what we consciously perceive at a present moment not only depends on what enters our eyes (bottom-up information), but to varying degrees also on what we have perceived in the past (top-down information) 50,55,56 . This is part of the constructive nature of perception.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual imagination can influence visual perception – towards an experimental paradigm to measure imagination

Mozhdehfarahbakhsh,

Hecker,

Joos

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Several studies with ambiguous figures reported both positive (priming) and negative (adaptation) effects of the immediate perceptual history on the current percept [ 8 , 10 , 31 , 65 – 72 ]. A recent study even indicated erroneous percepts of a currently observed stimulus, which could be traced back to the immediate perceptual history [ 73 ].…”

Section: Discussion–experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Top-down resolution of visual ambiguity – knowledge from the future or footprints from the past?

2021

Self Cite

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Current theories about visual perception assume that our perceptual system weights the a priori incomplete, noisy and ambiguous sensory information with previous, memorized perceptual experiences in order to construct stable and reliable percepts. These theories are supported by numerous experimental findings. Theories about precognition have an opposite point of view. They assume that information from the future can have influence on perception, thoughts, and behavior. Several experimental studies provide evidence for precognition effects, other studies found no such effects. One problem may be that the vast majority of precognition paradigms did not systematically control for potential effects from the perceptual history. In the present study, we presented ambiguous Necker cube stimuli and disambiguated cube variants and systematically tested in two separate experiments whether perception of a currently observed ambiguous Necker cube stimulus can be influenced by a disambiguated cube variant, presented in the immediate perceptual past (perceptual history effects) and/or in the immediate perceptual future (precognition effects). We found perceptual history effects, which partly depended on the length of the perceptual history trace but were independent of the perceptual future. Results from some individual participants suggest on the first glance a precognition pattern, but results from our second experiment make a perceptual history explanation more probable. On the group level, no precognition effects were statistically indicated. The perceptual history effects found in the present study are in confirmation with related studies from the literature. The precognition analysis revealed some interesting individual patterns, which however did not allow for general conclusions. Overall, the present study demonstrates that any future experiment about sensory or extrasensory perception urgently needs to control for potential perceptual history effects and that temporal aspects of stimulus presentation are of high relevance.

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Testing for visual deficits by the police among road users in Germany

Bartram,

Kanngießer,

Hufendiek

et al. 2023

Ophthalmologie

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Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Der Berufsverband der Augenärzte (BVA) schätzt, dass auf deutschen Straßen mindestens hunderttausende Verkehrsunfälle mit zehntausenden Verletzten und Toten jährlich durch bekannte und nicht-bekannte Störungen des Sehens verursacht werden. Die Polizei hatte bisher allerdings nicht die Möglichkeit, bei fahrauffälligen Personen potenzielle Sehstörungen vor Ort zu prüfen. In einem Pilotprojekt der Polizei mit der Augenklinik der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover (MHH) wurde erstmals darauf abgezielt, die bisherigen Tests der Polizei durch angepasste „Car-side“-Sehprüfungen zu erweitern. Material und Methode Vor Ort werden die Augenmotilität, die Pupillengröße und die Lichtreaktion von Autofahrern evaluiert sowie eine orientierende Sehschärfenprüfung und ein orientierendes Konfrontationsgesichtsfeld durchgeführt. Die praktische Durchführung sämtlicher Untersuchungsmodalitäten wurde zuvor abgestimmt und trainiert. Ergebnisse Umfang und Art der einzelnen Untersuchungen zur Abschätzung der Sehfähigkeit am PKW wurden beschrieben und standardisiert. Neben den visuellen Merkmalen werden auch bekanntere neurologische Tests, wie z. B. „Gerade auf einer Linie laufen“, erfasst. Durch die kombinierte Testauswertung ergibt sich eine objektive Grundlage zur behördlichen Entscheidung einer ggf. notwendigen sofortigen Führerscheinsicherstellung und zu dem Einleiten weiterer Maßnahmen wie beispielsweise einer augenärztlichen Überprüfung. Mit diesen Neuerungen hat die Polizei Niedersachsen ihr Ausbildungskonzept zur Überprüfung der Fahrtüchtigkeit überarbeitet und Anfang 2022 inklusive der augenärztlicherseits empfohlenen Sehprüfungen zur Umsetzung herausgegeben. Mittlerweile sind in Niedersachsen rund 150 Beamte ausgebildet worden und haben jetzt die Berechtigung „qualifizierte Fahrtüchtigkeitsprüfungen“ durchzuführen. Diesbezüglich wurde bereits eine Vielzahl von entsprechenden Verkehrsprüfungen durchgeführt, und die Weiterfahrten von Verkehrsteilnehmern mit erheblichen visuellen Defiziten wurden unterbunden. Schlussfolgerung In diesem Pilotprojekt wurde erstmals darauf abgezielt, die gängigen Testverfahren der (Verkehrs‑)Polizei zur Erkennung von verkehrsgefährdenden Autofahrern neben Screening auf Alkohol, Drogen und neurologische Defizite um spezifische Tests zur Erkennung von visuellen Defiziten zu erweitern. Das entsprechende Training der Polizeibeamten wurde in Niedersachsen und Hamburg flächendeckend durchgeführt, und die Maßnahmen finden aktuell bei Verkehrskontrollen im Bedarfsfall Anwendung. Die überprüften Merkmale sollen zukünftig auch in einem gewichteten Score bewertet werden und eine objektive Entscheidungsgrundlage für die Polizei darstellen, bei entsprechenden Defiziten ggf. eine Weiterfahrt zu unterbinden.

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Perception of the difference between past and present stimulus: A rare orientation illusion may indicate incidental access to prediction error-like signals

Cited by 7 publications

References 73 publications

Visual imagination can influence visual perception – towards an experimental paradigm to measure imagination

Visual imagination can influence visual perception – towards an experimental paradigm to measure imagination

Top-down resolution of visual ambiguity – knowledge from the future or footprints from the past?

Testing for visual deficits by the police among road users in Germany

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