Visual routines for detecting causal interactions are tuned to motion direction

Abstract

Detecting causal relations structures our perception of events in the world. Here, we determined for visual interactions whether generalized (i.e., feature-invariant) or specialized (i.e., feature-selective) visual routines underlie the perception of causality. To this end, we applied a visual adaptation protocol to assess the adaptability of specific features in classical launching events of simple geometric shapes. We asked observers to report whether they observed a launch or a pass in ambiguous test events (i.e., the overlap between two discs varied from trial to trial). After prolonged exposure to causal launch events (the adaptor) defined by a particular set of features (i.e., a particular motion direction, motion speed, or feature conjunction), observers were less likely to see causal launches in subsequent ambiguous test events than before adaptation. Crucially, adaptation was contingent on the causal impression in launches as demonstrated by a lack of adaptation in non-causal control events. We assessed whether this negative aftereffect transfers to test events with a new set of feature values that were not presented during adaptation. Processing in specialized (as opposed to generalized) visual routines predicts that the transfer of visual adaptation depends on the feature-similarity of the adaptor and the test event. We show that the negative aftereffects do not transfer to unadapted launch directions but do transfer to launch events of different speed. Finally, we used colored discs to assign distinct feature-based identities to the launching and the launched stimulus. We found that the adaptation transferred across colors if the test event had the same motion direction as the adaptor. In summary, visual adaptation allowed us to carve out a visual feature space underlying the perception of causality and revealed specialized visual routines that are tuned to a launchs motion direction. Significance statementWe used visual adaptation to carve out the visual feature space critical for detecting collisions in visual launching events. Observers were less likely to report perceiving a collision after the repeated viewing of one disc colliding with and launching the movement of another disc. Importantly, observers perception of collisions in the direction opposite to the adaptor remained unaffected. However, provided the test stimulus had the adapted direction of motion, the speed or the color of the objects involved in the launching event did not need to be the same as during adaptation for a negative aftereffect to occur. Thus, visual routines that detect causal interactions are selective for motion direction, providing evidence that the perception of causality in a visual interaction relies on low-level perceptual processes.