TY - JOUR
T1 - Continuity fields enhance visual perception through positive serial dependence
AU - Manassi, Mauro
AU - Whitney, David
PY - 2024/4/8
Y1 - 2024/4/8
N2 - Positive serial dependencies are phenomena in which actions, perception, decisions, and memory of features or objects are systematically biased towards the recent past. Across several decades, serial dependencies have been variously referred to as priming, sequential dependencies, sequential effects or serial effects. Despite a great deal of research, the functional purpose of positive serial dependencies remains unknown. In this Perspective, we propose that their goal is to promote the stability, accuracy and efficiency of perceptual representations. By continuously inducing serial dependencies, cognition compensates for variability in sensory input and thus stabilizes what would otherwise be a noisy, jittery and discontinuous experience of the world. We theorize that this goal is served by continuity fields: spatiotemporal integration mechanisms that continuously bias perception and cognition towards previously encountered information, thereby smoothing representations to promote the stability, accuracy and efficiency of experience.
AB - Positive serial dependencies are phenomena in which actions, perception, decisions, and memory of features or objects are systematically biased towards the recent past. Across several decades, serial dependencies have been variously referred to as priming, sequential dependencies, sequential effects or serial effects. Despite a great deal of research, the functional purpose of positive serial dependencies remains unknown. In this Perspective, we propose that their goal is to promote the stability, accuracy and efficiency of perceptual representations. By continuously inducing serial dependencies, cognition compensates for variability in sensory input and thus stabilizes what would otherwise be a noisy, jittery and discontinuous experience of the world. We theorize that this goal is served by continuity fields: spatiotemporal integration mechanisms that continuously bias perception and cognition towards previously encountered information, thereby smoothing representations to promote the stability, accuracy and efficiency of experience.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85190164056&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s44159-024-00297-x
DO - 10.1038/s44159-024-00297-x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85190164056
SN - 2731-0574
JO - Nature Reviews Psychology
JF - Nature Reviews Psychology
ER -