That is, subjects showed a shift in memory for position. Much of this work has demonstrated that representational momentum is affected by various aspects of object and event perception. In our laboratory in Oregon, we are using the representational momentum paradigm to probe the nature of event perception. Today I will report on two experiments from a series of studies being completed in collaboration with Geoffrey Miller, who is currently enjoying a postdoctoral fellowship in Sussex England. We hypothesize that perceivers use various cues such as the position of sensory organs and the aerodynamic structure of animate creatures to anticipate motion in certain directions.
Many animals are also pointy, or streamlined, in the direction of frequent body motion.
Miller and I hypothesized that these attributes of animals would be used by perceivers in anticipatory dynamic representations. We predicted that representational momentum shifts would thus be greater for forward than backward moving creatures. We also had an inanimate control icon. 32 Subjects participated. The video monitor shows the forward creature block.