Cite as:
Scocchia L, Grosso R A, Baud-Bovy G, Stucchi N, 2006, "The specificity of motor control in perceiving the flash-lag effect" Perception 35 ECVP Abstract Supplement

The specificity of motor control in perceiving the flash-lag effect

L Scocchia, R A Grosso, G Baud-Bovy, N Stucchi

In the flash-lag effect (FLE), observers see a flashed item colocalised with a moving item as lagging behind the moving item. In a previous study (Scocchia and Baud-Bovy, 2005 Perception 34 Supplement, 245), we investigated the effect of visuo-motor coupling in the FLE, and reported that the FLE is greater when the trajectory is controlled by the subject (motor condition) than when it is computer-generated (visual condition), suggesting an interaction between the motor and the visual systems. However, these findings could be explained by the greater attentive load implied by the double-task nature of the motor condition. To control for this possibility we added, to the paradigm used in the visual condition, two double-task conditions in which motor behaviour was not required. The concurrent task consisted of clicking the mouse when a distractor appeared either at the fixation point or overlapping the moving dot. The attentive load required by the double task did not modulate the FLE, at least in this experimental paradigm. This result reinforces the hypothesis of a visuo-motor interaction and is in agreement with the motor theories of perception.

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