Abstract for Rick Cai
Moving objects, whether they be predators
or preys, are of great importance to organisms. In fact, the very
survival of the visual system itself depends on the
accurate localization of moving objects.
However, I will present to you an illusion which demonstrates that our
brain makes systematic and dramatic errors about the
position of moving objects.
I will describe how this phenomenon can be expained through various theoretical
perspectives, and I will show how each theory stands up to
experimental tests. I will then
present a radically different model (The Asynchronous Feature Binding Model)
that provides a unified explanation to all the past experimental
data, and I will demonstrate a number
of new visual phenomena discovered through the prediction of this model.
I will also discuss the implication of these results on how
spatial relationships are constructed
in the brain.