Citation

Choi H, Scholl BJ. Acta Psychol. 2006; 123(1-2): 91-111.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Yale University, Box 208205, 2 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, CT 06520-8205, United States. h.choi@yale.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.actpsy.2006.06.001

PMID

16905109

Abstract

In a collision between two objects, we can perceive not only low-level properties, such as color and motion, but also the seemingly high-level property of causality. It has proven difficult, however, to measure causal perception in a quantitatively rigorous way which goes beyond perceptual reports. Here we focus on the possibility of measuring perceived causality using the phenomenon of representational momentum (RM). Recent studies suggest a relationship between causal perception and RM, based on the fact that RM appears to be attenuated for causally 'launched' objects. This is explained by appeal to the visual expectation that a 'launched' object is inert and thus should eventually cease its movement after a collision, without a source of self-propulsion. We first replicated these demonstrations, and then evaluated this alleged connection by exploring RM for different types of displays, including the contrast between causal launching and non-causal 'passing'. These experiments suggest that the RM-attenuation effect is not a pure measure of causal perception, but rather may reflect lower-level spatiotemporal correlates of only some causal displays. We conclude by discussing the strengths and pitfalls of various methods of measuring causal perception.

Language: en