Extracting the orientation of rotating objects without object identification: Object orientation induction.

Abstract

When a rotating object (inducer) is briefly replaced by a static face image (test stimulus), the orientation of the face appears to shift in the rotation direction of the inducer (object orientation induction, OOI). The OOI effect suggests that there is a process to continuously analyze and update the orientation of an object in motion. We investigated the perception of object orientation in motion, examining potential factors that contribute to OOI. Experiment 1 showed that the phenomenon is general to objects rather than specific to faces; OOI could be observed with non-face objects. Experiment 2 showed that OOI is a 3D effect, as the orientation shift for a bent-wire object depended on its configuration in the depth dimension. Experiment 3 showed that salient features are necessary to indicate the intrinsic orientation of the inducing object for producing OOI. Experiment 4 showed that change in the facing direction of the inducer object is a crucial factor for OOI, but neither the object shape nor its identity is important. A strong OOI effect was observed even when the inducer kept changing its shape and identity, as long as its direction change generated continuous rotation. Finally, Experiment 5 showed that OOI is a phenomenon in the pathway for fast visual processing. A single inducer presented shorter than 100ms before influenced the perceived orientation of the test stimulus. Together these results suggest that there is a predictive process that continuously analyzes and updates the orientation of rotating objects, independently of their identification.