Apparent motion perception depends on both stimulus properties and attentional allocation, yet the role of the spatial distribution of attention remains unclear. The present study examined whether biases in attentional distribution systematically modulate bistable apparent motion perception. Using a motion quartet stimulus, three experiments manipulated attention along horizontal and vertical axes. In Experiments 1 and 2, attention was biased using elongated attentional cues. In Experiment 3, attention was manipulated via a secondary task while controlling for physical cue properties. Across all experiments, perceived motion direction was biased toward the attended axis: horizontal motion predominated under horizontal attention, whereas vertical motion predominated under vertical attention. These results demonstrate that the spatial distribution of attention plays a functional role in motion correspondence and highlight attention as a key factor shaping apparent motion perception.
Whether reaching for an object or avoiding a potential threat, our ability to interact with the world relies on anticipating physical contact with nearby objects. This ability is thought to depend on the facilitation of tactile processing whenever an object enters the region surrounding the body where physical interaction is possible, referred to as ‘peripersonal space’. Traditionally, these facilitation effects have been ascribed to the activity of the peripersonal neurons, which show maximal responses when tactile stimuli on the body co-occur with nearby visual or auditory stimuli, and would ultimately influence observable behavioral responses. While this neural account has shaped much of the field’s interpretation, recent work has begun to question its sufficiency. Notably, whereas neural responses require spatial alignment of stimuli within reachable space, behavioral facilitation often occurs without such alignment and can extend well beyond the boundaries of reachable space. Building on emerging perspectives, we systematically unpacked additional processes, such as overt expectations, increased attention, and motor resonance, that may contribute to this behavioral facilitation. We argue that tactile facilitation driven by external stimuli, especially those approaching the body, involves a complex interplay of sensory, motor, and cognitive factors not exclusively restricted to peripersonal space nor directly associated with the activity of the peripersonal neurons. We conclude by discussing the conceptual implications and outlining directions for future research that move beyond a neuron-centric view toward a more integrative account of behavioral responses to multisensory stimuli within and outside peripersonal space.
Boundary extension refers to the tendency to remember scenes as having wider boundaries than were physically present. A separate line of research has shown that image memorability, defined as the likelihood that an image will be remembered across observers, varies substantially across images. Previous research suggests that both boundary extension and image memorability heavily depend on image characteristics, yet the possibility that the two phenomena are related has not been directly tested. In the current study, we asked whether images that produce stronger boundary extension also tend to be more memorable. First, we compared boundary transformation scores from an existing dataset with memorability estimates generated by a deep-learning model. Results revealed that images showing greater boundary extension tended to have higher predicted memorability. Next, we conducted behavioral experiments measuring boundary memory for scene images and directly assessed recognition memory for the same images. Consistent with the first analysis, images associated with greater boundary extension showed higher memorability. Finally, analyses of experimentally manipulated stimuli showed that image manipulations known to increase boundary extension also increased predicted memorability. Taken together, these findings reveal a systematic relationship between boundary memory and memorability, suggesting that shared image properties may influence both the tendency to extend scene boundaries and the strength of memory encoding.
In speeded grammaticality decision tasks, the transposed-word effect occurs when ungrammatical word sequences created by swapping adjacent words in an otherwise grammatical sentence are harder to reject than control sequences derived from ungrammatical base sentences, providing evidence for flexible word-order processing during reading. Previous research shows that this effect is often attenuated in atypical display formats, including serial word presentation and backward text, especially in RTs. Some accounts interpret this pattern as a shift from parallel processing, in which multiple words are recognised simultaneously, towards more serial word recognition. However, atypical formats may also disrupt component processes supporting reading, including eye guidance, spatial attention, and parafoveal processing, thereby reducing the uptake of information from adjacent words. We extended this work to Chinese, a script that can be read in horizontal and vertical orientations while individual characters remain upright. Two hundred native Chinese readers made speeded grammaticality decisions to five-word sequences presented left-to-right, top-to-bottom, right-to-left, or bottom-to-top. Robust transposed-word effects occurred in both accuracy and RTs across all orientations. Effects were largest for conventional left-to-right text and smaller in all three atypical orientations. Thus, attenuation occurred even though all words remained simultaneously visible. It was therefore not confined to formats that physically enforce serial presentation. Although attenuation may reflect a shift towards more serial word recognition, it could also arise because difficulty processing atypically oriented text narrows spatial attention and reduces parafoveal information uptake. These component-process changes can occur under either parallel or serial accounts, making the findings compatible with both.
The literature on lapses of attention is organized and reviewed. This includes a review of different types of lapses, different measures of lapses, and neural and physiological correlates of lapses. A general attention resource-allocation framework is proposed to explain lapses and what factors influence their occurrence. These factors include arousal/alertness, external distraction, personal concerns and negative thoughts, motivational/conative factors, task factors, and person factors. Research is reviewed suggesting that lapses have downstream effects on a number of processes including selective attention and attention control, working memory, learning, reading comprehension, and error monitoring. Finally, lapses in everyday life are reviewed. A number of future directions are discussed and it is suggested that more research is needed to refine our definition and theories of lapses and examine additional ways of curtailing lapses.
