Motion Perception of Angularly Expanding Stimuli Within a Presence Versus Absence Framework

Research has shown that searching for the presence of a feature among featureless distractors is easier than searching for the absence of a feature among distractor objects containing the feature. The present study examined motion perception within this context while manipulating motion type and target density. Further, the element of angular expansion was also included as part of the moving stimuli. Using a standard computer interface, participants were asked to respond as quickly as they could to a variety of moving stimuli. Results showed that it took more time to detect stationary targets among moving distractors than to find moving targets among stationary distractors. Further, adding targets, or changing the type of motion, facilitated detection times within the absence of motion framework whereas adding targets or changing the type of motion within the presence conditions had very little impact. These findings could have important design implications when constructing dynamic displays that require immediate attention to critical information.