DOCSLIB.ORG

The Perception of Timescales in Electroacoustic Music

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Perception of Timescales in Electroacoustic Music Pasoulas, Aki (2011). The perception of timescales in electroacoustic music. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City University London) City Research Online Original citation: Pasoulas, Aki (2011). The perception of timescales in electroacoustic music. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City University London) Permanent City Research Online URL: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/1155/ Copyright & reuse City University London has developed City Research Online so that its users may access the research outputs of City University London's staff. Copyright © and Moral Rights for this paper are retained by the individual author(s) and/ or other copyright holders. Users may download and/ or print one copy of any article(s) in City Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non- commercial research. Users may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. All material in City Research Online is checked for eligibility for copyright before being made available in the live archive. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to from other web pages. Versions of research The version in City Research Online may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check the Permanent City Research Online URL above for the status of the paper. Enquiries If you have any enquiries about any aspect of City Research Online, or if you wish to make contact with the author(s) of this paper, please email the team at [email protected]. THE PERCEPTION OF TIMESCALES IN ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC Aki Pasoulas PhD Thesis C i t y U n i v e r s i t y , L o n d o n S c h o o l o f A r t s , D e p a r t m e n t o f M u s i c March 2011 Aki Pasoulas The Perception of Timescales in Electroacoustic Music Table of contents List of Figures ..........................................................................................................5 List of Audio Examples ............................................................................................6 List of Max/MSP patches..........................................................................................8 List of Compositions.................................................................................................8 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................9 Declaration ...............................................................................................................10 Abstract....................................................................................................................11 Introduction..............................................................................................................12 Chapter 1: The Perception of Time ...........................................................................14 1.1 The Nature of Time .................................................................................14 1.2 Time and Music.......................................................................................16 1.3 Temporal Experiences and the Perception of the Present..........................20 1.3.1 Time Experiences......................................................................20 1.3.2 The Present ...............................................................................24 1.4 Summary.................................................................................................28 Chapter 2: Physical and Psychological Timescales in Music .....................................30 2.1 Preface ....................................................................................................30 2.2 Physical Timescales.................................................................................30 2.3 Psychological Timescales ........................................................................33 2.4 Psychological Time Continuum...............................................................35 2.5 Factors Influencing Time Perception .......................................................36 2.5.1 Surrounding Environment: The Five Senses ..............................38 2.5.2 Temporal Syntax: Local and High-Level Time Structures...........................................................................................42 2.5.3 Temporal Associations, Semantic Content and Source Bonding .............................................................................................50 2.5.4 Listening Experiences, Psychological States and Emotional Responses .........................................................................58 2 Aki Pasoulas The Perception of Timescales in Electroacoustic Music 2.6 The Time-Influencing Set........................................................................65 2.7 Summary.................................................................................................68 Chapter 3: Perceptual Analysis of Sound at the Micro Level, and Temporal Processes ..................................................................................................................70 3.1 Preface ....................................................................................................70 3.2 Definition of Microsound ........................................................................70 3.3 Behaviour of Microsound ........................................................................73 3.4 Subliminal Perception of Micro Events....................................................75 3.5 Micro-Macro Relationships .....................................................................77 3.6 Stimulus Complexity and Time Judgments..............................................79 3.7 Altered Time Perception and Expectation................................................83 3.8 Summary.................................................................................................86 Chapter 4: Analysis of Electroacoustic Compositions ...............................................87 4.1 Preface ....................................................................................................87 4.2 Ka-Boom! ...............................................................................................88 4.2.1 Poietic Processes: Aims.............................................................88 4.2.2 Poietic Processes: Material ........................................................90 4.2.3 Poietic Processes and Esthesic Considerations: Structure and Processing ...................................................................................93 4.3 Vessel@Anchor.......................................................................................95 4.3.1 Poietic Processes and Aims .......................................................96 4.3.2 Esthesics: Perception of Temporal Messages.............................101 4.3.3 Vessel@Anchor ST6.................................................................104 4.4 Chronos...................................................................................................106 4.4.1 Poietic Processes and Esthesics .................................................106 4.4.2 The Live Version and Visual Information..................................113 4.5 Arborescences .........................................................................................115 4.5.1 Sound Material, and Arborescent Structures..............................115 4.5.2 Further Organisation of Time Structures....................................119 4.6 Paramnesia ..............................................................................................123 4.6.1 General Structure and Aims.......................................................123 4.6.2 Organisation of Time Structures in 'Promenade' ........................125 3 Aki Pasoulas The Perception of Timescales in Electroacoustic Music 4.6.3 Poietic Processes in 'Repose' .....................................................128 4.6.4 Recurrences and Complexities...................................................130 4.7 Structured Time and Behaviour of Timescales in Electroacoustic Music: Concluding Remarks .........................................................................133 4.7.1 Summary of Issues Explored in the Compositions .....................133 4.7.2 General Remarks and Key Findings...........................................134 4.7.3 Future Directions.......................................................................136 Appendix I: Aural Separation ...................................................................................139 Appendix II: Recognition of Order ...........................................................................140 Appendix III: Haptic Devices ...................................................................................141 Appendix IV: Chewy & Crisp...................................................................................142 Appendix V: Cricket Sound......................................................................................143 Appendix VI: Score Instructions for Paramnesia.......................................................144 Appendix VII: Compositions/Programme Notes .......................................................145 VII.i Ka-Boom! .............................................................................................145 VII.ii Vessel@Anchor....................................................................................146 VII.iii Vessel@Anchor ST6............................................................................147
Load more

Recommended publications
  • An Investigation of Tactile Localization and Skin-Based Maps
    Where was I touched? – An investigation of tactile localization and skin-based maps Jack Brooks Doctor of Philosophy Neuroscience Research Australia School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine University of New South Wales November 2017 ii Preface The coding of the position of touch on the skin and of the size and shape of the body are both fundamental for interacting with our surrounds. The aim of this thesis was to learn more about the mechanisms of tactile localization and to characterize the principles by which skin-based representations of the body update. It is commonly accepted that skin-based representations of the body are generated from the statistics of touch and other inputs. My studies required skin stimulation customised to account for inter-individual differences in touch sensitivity and forearm shape. Within the constraints of these methodological challenges, the central questions of this thesis were addressed by performing multiple behavioural experiments. In my first study, I tested how touch intensity and history influence touch localization. The study showed that reducing touch intensity increases the variability of pointing responses to touch and results in spatial biases to the middle of the recent history of touch. Thus, I showed that when uncertain about perceived touch location, a strategy is used that minimises localization errors over time. This error minimisation mechanism stabilises our perception of events on the skin and their sensory features. Next, I investigated uncertainty in a motion stimulus by fragmenting it. Studies in vision suggest that missing sensory inputs are filled-in from the surrounds, while previous tactile studies suggest fragmented motion could influence skin-based representations.
    [Show full text]
  • TRF1: It Was the Best of Time(S)…
    Timing & Time Perception 6 (2018) 231–414 brill.com/time TRF1: It Was the Best of Time(s)… Anne Giersch1 and Jennifer T. Coull2 1INSERM, France 2Laboratoire des Neurosciences Cognitives (UMR 7291), Aix-Marseille University & CNRS, Marseille, France The Timing Research Forum (TRF; http://timingforum.org/) is an interna- tional (Fig. 1), gender-inclusive, and open academic society for timing re- search, founded in 2016 by Argiro Vatakis and Sundeep Teki (Teki, 2016). Following a call to its Committee members in May 2016, we agreed to host the 1st Conference of the Timing Research Forum in Strasbourg, France (TRF1; http://trf-strasbourg.sciencesconf.org). First on the agenda was to decide on eminent keynote speakers to lend credibility to this very first TRF conference. We wanted one talk from the field of psychology and the other from the neurosciences, and so were delighted that both Lera Boro- ditsky and Warren Meck accepted our invitations immediately. Lera kicked off the conference for us, with an extremely entertaining talk about the spatial representation of time in different societies and cultures and how the linguistic metaphors we use to describe time influence our conception of time. Warren highlighted the key role of the striatal dopaminergic sys- tem for timing, illustrating his talk with data from an impressive variety of methodological techniques from the clinical level (performance in patients with Parkinson’s Disease) right down to the cellular (optogenetic studies in mice). Coincidentally, the role of dopamine in timing was also the subject of our third keynote talk. One of the mission statements of TRF is to pro- mote the work of young researchers, and Argiro and Sundeep had the great idea to invite an early-career researcher to give a keynote talk.
    [Show full text]
  • The Kappa Effect in Pitch/Time Context Dissertation
    THE KAPPA EFFECT IN PITCH/TIME CONTEXT DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Noah MacKenzie, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2007 Dissertation Committee: Professor Mari Jones, Adviser Professor Mark Pitt Approved by Professor James Todd Adviser Psychology Graduate Program ABSTRACT The kappa effect, an effect of spatial extent on the perception of time, is, relatively speaking, poorly understood, especially in the auditory domain. Five experiments demonstrate the kappa effect in the auditory domain by instructing listeners to judge the timing of a tone (Tone X) in relation to a tone immediately preceding it (Tone A) and immediately following it (Tone B). These three tones, together, are referred to as a kappa cell. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 illustrate how the serial context of kappa judgments can influence the strength of the effect. Experiment 1 served as a control experiment to demonstrate the effectiveness of the independent variables. Experiment 2 replicated Shigeno (1986), perhaps the clearest presentation to date of the auditory kappa effect, yet used pitch (frequency on a logarithmic scale) rather than frequency (on a linear scale) as an independent variable. Experiment 3 added a three-tone serial context to the kappa cell. Experiment 4 added a serial context to the kappa cell that strongly conflicted with its pitch trajectory. Experiment 5 examined kappa cells with larger pitch motion (or change in pitch per unit time). Results are discussed in terms of auditory motion and the assumption of constant velocity.
    [Show full text]
  • UC Merced Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society
    UC Merced Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society Title Does spatiotemporal integration occur with single empty time intervals instead of two neighboring intervals in the visual modality? Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3705r7j0 Journal Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 36(36) ISSN 1069-7977 Authors Kuroda, Tsuyoshi Grondin, Simon Tobimatsu, Shozo Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Does spatiotemporal integration occur with single empty time intervals instead of two neighboring intervals in the visual modality? Tsuyoshi Kuroda ([email protected]) Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Graduate School of Medical Sciences Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582 Japan Simon Grondin ([email protected]) École de psychologie, Université Laval, 2325 rue des Bibliothèques Québec, G1V 0A6 Canada Shozo Tobimatsu ([email protected]) Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Graduate School of Medical Sciences Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582 Japan Abstract interpreted as indicating a perceptual tendency to overestimate duration when spatial distance is increased. The kappa effect is an illusion involving spatiotemporal integration in the cognitive process and is demonstrated with The kappa effect is explained by the imputed-velocity three successive signals delimiting two neighboring empty model, positing the constancy of motional speed or velocity time intervals. The present experiment was conducted with (Alards-Tomalin, Leboe-McGowan, & Mondor, 2013; single time intervals delimited by two signals, instead of three, Henry & McAuley, 2009; Jones, & Huang, 1982; ten to examine whether perceived duration would be modulated Hoopen, Miyauchi, & Nakajima, 2008).
    [Show full text]
  • Processing Time Between Visual Events
    Processing time between visual events Processamento temporal entre eventos visuais Simon Grondin ABSTRACT Visual perception is closely related to and associated with the processing of space. Nevertheless, all events occur at some moment in time, and time needs to be processed in the visual mode. After briefly reviewing the many research avenues in which time and vision are linked, this article focuses on the discrimination of visually marked time intervals, emphasizing work from my own laboratory. It presents a theoretical position, that of a single- clock hypothesis, as well as issues and data that show how visual temporal processing can be approached. These issues are partly related to the fact that time is marked by signals from a single source or by signals provided by distanced sources. In the latter case, different questions arise depending on the signals’ exact location. It is known that more distance between flashes can result in longer perceived duration (kappa effect). However, the data reported here, involving signals placed on the same vertical plane, show the opposite effect: briefer perceived duration with more distance between flashes. When flashes are located on the same horizontal plane in different hemi-fields, there is also a lateral effect that may influence time judgments. Keywords: Time perception; Perceived duration; Time markers; Kappa effect From the electrophysiology of retinal or cortical cells to the Gestalt law of organization of visual stimuli, there are a variety of levels for understanding vision and visual perception. In many cases, the visual phenomena to be understood consist of color, form, depth or movement. As can readily be grasped when considering depth or movement, space is often crucial information for the visual system.
    [Show full text]
  • What Drives the Kappa Effect
    RESEARCH ARTICLE Speed Constancy or Only Slowness: What Drives the Kappa Effect Youguo Chen1*, Bangwu Zhang1, Konrad Paul Kording2 1 Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Center of Studies for Psychology and Social Development, Faculty of psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China, 2 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America * [email protected] a11111 Abstract In the Kappa effect, two visual stimuli are given, and their spatial distance affects their per- ceived temporal interval. The classical model assumes constant speed while a competing Bayesian model assumes a slow speed prior. The two models are based on different OPEN ACCESS assumptions about the statistical structure of the environment. Here we introduce a new Citation: Chen Y, Zhang B, Kording KP (2016) visual experiment to distinguish between these models. When fit to the data, both the two Speed Constancy or Only Slowness: What Drives the models replicated human response, but the slowness model makes better behavioral pre- Kappa Effect. PLoS ONE 11(4): e0154013. dictions than the speed constancy model, and the estimated constant speed is close to the doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0154013 absolute threshold of speed. Our findings suggest that the Kappa effect appears to be due Editor: Wenbo Luo, Liaoning Normal University, to slow speeds, and also modulated by spatial variance. CHINA Received: July 18, 2015 Accepted: April 7, 2016 Published: April 21, 2016 Introduction Copyright: © 2016 Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the The Kappa effect is a spatiotemporal illusion where the perception of elapsed time between the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits sensory stimuli is systematically distorted by the irrelevant distance between the stimuli [1, 2].
    [Show full text]
  • A Bayesian Perceptual Model Replicates the Cutaneous Rabbit and Other Tactile Spatiotemporal Illusions Daniel Goldreich*
    A Bayesian Perceptual Model Replicates the Cutaneous Rabbit and Other Tactile Spatiotemporal Illusions Daniel Goldreich* Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Background. When brief stimuli contact the skin in rapid succession at two or more locations, perception strikingly shrinks the intervening distance, and expands the elapsed time, between consecutive events. The origins of these perceptual space-time distortions are unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings. Here I show that these illusory effects, which I term perceptual length contraction and time dilation, are emergent properties of a Bayesian observer model that incorporates prior expectation for speed. Rapidly moving stimuli violate expectation, provoking perceptual length contraction and time dilation. The Bayesian observer replicates the cutaneous rabbit illusion, the tau effect, the kappa effect, and other spatiotemporal illusions. Additionally, it shows realistic tactile temporal order judgment and spatial attention effects. Conclusions/ Significance. The remarkable explanatory power of this simple model supports the hypothesis, first proposed by Helmholtz, that the brain biases perception in favor of expectation. Specifically, the results suggest that the brain automatically incorporates prior expectation for speed in order to overcome spatial and temporal imprecision inherent in the sensorineural signal. Citation: Goldreich D (2007) A Bayesian Perceptual Model Replicates the Cutaneous Rabbit and Other Tactile Spatiotemporal Illusions. PLoS ONE 2(3): e333. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000333 INTRODUCTION mechanics. Apparently related to the rabbit is the classic tau effect, How does the brain interpret information from the senses? This in which the more rapidly traversed of two equal distances (defined unresolved question carries fundamental importance for neurosci- by three stimuli) is perceived as shorter [15,16] (Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluation of an Imputed Pitch Velocity Model of the Auditory Tau Effect
    Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics 2009, 71 (6), 1399-1413 doi:10.3758/APP.71.6.1399 Evaluation of an imputed pitch velocity model of the auditory tau effect MOLLY J. HENRY Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio J. DEVIN MCAULEY Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan A N D MA RT A ZA LE ha Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio This article extends an imputed pitch velocity model of the auditory kappa effect proposed by Henry and McAuley (2009a) to the auditory tau effect. Two experiments were conducted using an AXB design in which listeners judged the relative pitch of a middle target tone (X) in ascending and descending three-tone sequences. In Experiment 1, sequences were isochronous, establishing constant fast, medium, and slow velocity conditions. No systematic distortions in perceived target pitch were observed, and thresholds were similar across velocity conditions. Experiment 2 introduced to-be-ignored variations in target timing. Variations in target timing that deviated from constant velocity conditions introduced systematic distortions in perceived target pitch, indicative of a robust auditory tau effect. Consistent with an auditory motion hypothesis, the magnitude of the tau effect was larger at faster velocities. In addition, the tau effect was generally stronger for descending sequences than for ascending sequences. Combined with previous work on the auditory kappa effect, the imputed velocity model and associated auditory motion hypothesis provide a unified quantitative account of both auditory tau and kappa effects. In broader terms, these findings add support to the view that pitch and time relations in auditory patterns are fundamentally interdependent.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Bradford Ethesis
    University of Bradford eThesis This thesis is hosted in Bradford Scholars – The University of Bradford Open Access repository. Visit the repository for full metadata or to contact the repository team © University of Bradford. This work is licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence. The role of sensory history and stimulus context in human time perception Adaptive and integrative distortions of perceived duration Corinne FULCHER Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Life Sciences University of Bradford 2017 Abstract Corinne Fulcher The Role of Sensory History and Stimulus Context in Human Time Perception Adaptive and Integrative Distortions of Perceived Duration Keywords: Time perception, Duration, Human, Adaptation, Integration, Subsecond, Vision, Audition, Psychophysics, Modelling This thesis documents a series of experiments designed to investigate the mechanisms subserving sub-second duration processing in humans. Firstly, duration aftereffects were generated by adapting to consistent duration information. If duration aftereffects represent encoding by neurons selective for both stimulus duration and non-temporal stimulus features, adapt-test changes in these features should prevent duration aftereffect generation. Stimulus characteristics were chosen which selectively target differing stages of the visual processing hierarchy. The duration aftereffect showed robust interocular transfer and could be generated using a stimulus whose duration was defined by stimuli invisible to monocular mechanisms, ruling out a pre- cortical locus. The aftereffects transferred across luminance-defined visual orientation and facial identity. Conversely, the duration encoding mechanism was selective for changes in the contrast-defined envelope size of a Gabor and showed broad spatial selectivity which scaled proportionally with adapting stimulus size. These findings are consistent with a second stage visual spatial mechanism that pools input across proportionally smaller, i spatially abutting filters.
    [Show full text]
  • Introducing a New Haptic Illusion to Increase the Perceived Resolution of Tactile Displays
    Introducing a New Haptic Illusion to Increase the Perceived Resolution of Tactile Displays Rebekka Hoffmann1,2, Manje A. B. Brinkhuis1, Árni Kristjánsson1 and Runar Unnthorsson2 1Faculty of Psychology, University of Iceland, Sæmundargata 2, Reykjavik, Iceland 2Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Iceland, Sæmundargata 2, Reykjavik, Iceland Keywords: Haptic Illusion, Error of Localization, Tactile Spatial Acuity, Vibrotactile Resolution, Tactile Displays. Abstract: Tactile high-resolution displays gained importance during the last decade due to their wide range of application areas. To maximize the throughput of information developers can be tempted to mount as many tactile actuators (tactors) as possible on a haptic device, thereby risking to overexert the user’s sense of touch, and to critically decrease its usability. Studies therefore explore ways of increasing the perceived resolution of tactile displays by exploiting haptic illusions. We demonstrate a new spatiotemporal haptic illusion that has not been described in literature yet. We conducted an experiment, in which we manipulated the vibration intensity of two successive tactor activations, the direction of consecutive tactor activations (up, down) and inter-tactor distance (40, 20, or zero mm). Fourteen naive participants judged whether the second tactor activation was above or below the first activation. Our results suggest that varying the sequence of activations with different intensities leads to an error of localization. High intensity activations followed by low intensity activations resulted in an illusory downward movement, and vice versa. The haptic intensity-movement illusion provides a promising possibility to enhance the information conveyed in tactile displays, without increasing the tactor density at the cost of the product’s usability, comfort and ergonomy.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Role of Imputed Velocity in the Auditory Kappa Effect
    ON THE ROLE OF IMPUTED VELOCITY IN THE AUDITORY KAPPA EFFECT Molly J. Henry A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2007 Committee: J. Devin McAuley, Advisor Dale Klopfer Verner Bingman ii ABSTRACT J. Devin McAuley, Advisor The auditory kappa effect is a is a systematic effect of manipulations to pitch on judgments about auditory sequence timing. Two experiments were conducted to examine the role of imputed pitch velocity in the auditory kappa effect. In both experiments, participants judged the timing of a ‘target’ tone embedded in a three tone sequence (a kappa cell), while ignoring manipulations of the target’s pitch. Experiment 1 examined the effects of the presence/absence of a context sequence that reinforced the pitch velocity imputed to the kappa cell on the magnitude of the auditory kappa effect. Presence of a context sequence tended to weaken the kappa effect. Experiment 2 varied the pitch velocity of sequences between trials. Generalizing findings from vision, the magnitude of the auditory kappa effect increased as pitch velocity increased. Findings are discussed with respect to the perceptual interdependence of space and time. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the help and guidance provided by the Timing Research Group, specifically that of my advisor, J. Devin McAuley, and Laura Dilley. Thanks to Danielle Champney for a tremendous help with running participants and to Noah MacKenzie for answering all of my naïve questions. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………. 1 Auditory Kappa Effect .....................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Effects of Environmental Context on Temporal Perception Bias in Apparent Motion ⇑ Tomohiro Masuda A, Atsushi Kimura B, Ippeita Dan C, Yuji Wada A
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector Vision Research 51 (2011) 1728–1740 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Vision Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/visres Effects of environmental context on temporal perception bias in apparent motion ⇑ Tomohiro Masuda a, Atsushi Kimura b, Ippeita Dan c, Yuji Wada a, a Sensory and Cognitive Food Science Laboratory, Food Function Division, National Food Research Institute, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan b Department of Information Environment, Tokyo Denki University, Inzai, Chiba, Japan c Functional Brain Science Laboratory, Center for Development of Advanced Medical Technology, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan article info abstract Article history: We investigated whether the directional effect on the kappa effect can be attributed to the directional Received 7 May 2009 anisotropy of retinotopical space or to the representation of forces provided by environmental contexts Received in revised form 27 May 2011 (e.g., gravity) in an observed event. We examined whether different contexts with similar directional Available online 16 June 2011 changes (straight vs. reversed motion) influence the kappa effect in four experiments. The object’s motion appeared to depict only forces under the natural laws of physics on a slope (Experiment 1) or on a hor- Keywords: izontal plane (Experiment 2) in virtual 3D space. In Experiments 3 and 4, the motion appeared to be sub- Kappa effect jected to external or self-driving forces additionally influenced by internal forces on a slope (Experiment Event perception 3) or a horizontal plane (Experiment 4).
    [Show full text]