Cite as:
Hubbard T L, Motes M A, 2001, "Does representational momentum reflect a distortion of the length or the endpoint
of a trajectory?" Perception 30 ECVP Abstract Supplement

Does representational momentum reflect a distortion of the length or the endpoint
of a trajectory?

T L Hubbard, M A Motes

Memory for the final position of a moving target is often displaced forward (in the direction of target motion), and this is called 'representational momentum' (for review, see Hubbard, 1995 Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 2 322 - 338). Theories of representational momentum suggest the displacement results from forward distortion of memory for the final position. Alternatively, representational momentum may reflect forward distortion of memory for the entire trajectory, and this possibility is consistent with the Fröhlich effect (for review, see Müsseler and Aschersleben, 1998 Perception & Psychophysics 60 683 - 695). In experiments 1 and 2, observers viewed a moving target, and after the target vanished, observers indicated its initial or final position. In experiment 1, observers received an auditory cue after the target vanished which instructed them to indicate either the initial or final position; in experiment 2, one group indicated initial position and a second group indicated final position. In both experiments 1 and 2, memory for final position was displaced forward (consistent with representational momentum), but memory for initial position was displaced backward (inconsistent with the Fröhlich effect). Thus, the remembered trajectory was longer than the actual trajectory, and so representational momentum does not result from forward distortion of memory for the entire trajectory.

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