Correspondence matching in apparent motion: evidence for three-dimensional spatial representation.

The path of an object in apparent motion depends on correspondence matching, the decision that images seen at different places and at different times represent the same object. One determinant of correspondence is proximity. Still debated, however, is whether proximity is defined in a two- or three-dimensional spatial representation. Observers judged the motion path taken by an object with two neighbors of different apparent depth. Given similar two-dimensional distances, objects moved toward the neighbor of the same apparent depth. This is evidence that correspondence operates in a three-dimensional spatial representation.