The Flash-Lag Effect during Illusory Chopstick Rotation

Abstract

In the ‘flash-lag’ effect, a static object that is briefly flashed next to a moving object appears to lag behind the moving object. A flash was put up next to an intersection that appeared to be moving clockwise along a circular path but was actually moving counterclockwise [the chopstick illusion; Anstis, 1990, in AI and the Eye Eds A Blake, T Troscianko (London: John Wiley) pp 105–117; 2003, in Levels of Perception Eds L Harris, M Jenkin (New York: Springer) pp 90–93]. As a result, the flash appeared displaced clockwise. This was appropriate to the physical, not the subjective, direction of rotation, and it suggests that the flash-lag illusion occurs early in the visual system, before motion signals are parsed into moving objects.