Does global context affect memory for position in the onset repulsion effect?

Abstract

The onset repulsion effect (ORE) refers to the tendency to misremember the first appearance of a moving object as being back behind its true onset position, that is, in a direction opposite to the path of motion (Actis-Grosso & Stucchi, 2003; Thornton, 2002). While the ORE has been replicated many times, the underlying cause for such a backward shift is still unclear. The present study was designed to (i) test whether the ORE can be observed in an online environment, and (ii) examine whether the global context of a motion event (e.g., the number of motion segments or the presence/absence of shape-cueing) modulates patterns of responding. In three separate experiments, observers were asked to watch a smoothly moving target and to subsequently indicate its starting, stopping and, if relevant turning points. In some conditions, shape cues were provided via both instructions (e.g., complete the sides of the triangle/rectangle) and visual feedback. In all conditions a robust ORE was measured, indicating that the effect can be observed in an online environment, where viewing conditions are not controlled. However, the global context of the motion event had very little influence on the pattern of error. This contrasts with Representational Momentum – the tendency to misremember the stopping point of an event –which is known to be modulated by context (Freyd & Finke, 1984; Vinson & Reed, 2002). The current findings suggest that the ORE is likely determined by low-level perceptual mechanisms, with less susceptibility to higher-level contextual influences.