Abstract
In this study, 24 subjects with 20/20 correctible vision participated in a 3 − 3 − 2 visual estimation experiment. The stimulus was a dot or “ball” bouncing clockwise around a 12° visual angle square according to laws of ideal physics. At the end of the first collision, the ball disappeared, and subjects were then required to estimate where on each wall the ball would subsequently impact. The ball was presented at speeds of 3.5°, 6.7°, 10.0° visual angle/sec. Results indicated that there was a linear relationship in the times required to estimate the positions of the ball after 1, 2, and 3 bounces; however, the positional accuracy deteriorated rapidly after 3 bounces and about 8 seconds. Results also suggested that the speed at which the moving stimulus is observed also influences the speed at which one later imagines the moving object. We believe there is a “default” speed at which subjects optimally prefer to imagine moving objects, and that speed is around 5° to 8° of visual angle/sec. We suggest that simple motion presented on CRT displays might be accurately projected ahead by the subject when it is presented at this default speed.
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