A global process in motion segregation

Observers viewed sparse random dot cinematograms in which the moving dots were confined to eight windows. The motions in seven of the windows were consistent with a global flow pattern, while the direction of motion in the eighth window deviated from this pattern. The observer's task was to determine which of the eight windows contained the inconsistent motion. The task was performed on two types of global flow patterns: spirals, which appear rigid, and deformations, which appear highly non-rigid. Although these patterns produce qualitatively different global percepts, they are exactly matched in their local velocities and velocity differences. Observers were better able to locate an inconsistent motion in spiral patterns than in deformation patterns, indicating that they were using more than just local motion information to find the target. This result is taken as indirect support for a segregation process that involves fitting the stimulus with a global motion pattern and segregating motions inconsistent with this pattern.