Glare effect animations: a peculiar case of perceptual causality

This work is an extension of findings reported earlier (Zavagno and Bressanelli, 2006 Perception 35 Supplement, 182) concerning a peculiar case of perceptual causality in animated-glare-effect displays (AGE). We noticed that different speeds at which luminance ramps changed cyclically (maximum range: black to white in 256 luminance steps; minimum range: homogenous black) modulated the impression of perceptual causality expressed in terms of an apparent-light expanding from a central square causing shading changes in a cross configuration. In particular, slow animations (5 frames s-1) showed weak causality responses, expressed in terms of a temporal scission between a first non-causal event (luminance ramps are perceived as color changes) and a second perceptual reorganization into a causal event (apparent luminosity is suddenly seen as causing actual shading), while fast animations (100 frames s-1) showed always strong causality responses. Here, we investigated the correlations between luminosity thresholds in two AGEs (5 frames s-1, 50 frames s-1) and respective thresholds for the perception of causality. The threshold for causality was significantly higher for the slow animation, in agreement with our hypothesis of perceptual reorganization.