The push-pull of serial dependence effects: Every response is both an attraction to the prior response and a repulsion from the prior stimulus
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: In the “serial dependence” effect, responses to visual stimuli appear biased toward the last trial’s stimulus. Fischer and Whitney (2014) proposed that this reflects a “continuity field” that promotes visual stability by biasing perception toward the recent past. However, different kinds of serial dependence exist, with some reflecting prior stimuli and others reflecting prior responses. To untangle the two kinds of dependencies, we used a statistical approach that relies on participants’ naturally occurring, trial-by-trial errors, simultaneously considering the combined effects of the prior response and the prior stimulus. To validate the approach, we collected data in an experiment designed to produce relatively large errors, such that the prior response and prior stimulus were dissociated across trials. We applied the approach to our own data, and to data from previous serial dependence studies, including Fischer and Whitney’s. Whenever these two effects could be disentangled, we found that serial dependencies reflected an attraction to the prior response and repulsion from the prior stimulus. In no case did we find evidence of an attraction to the prior stimulus.
Source: Journal of Vision
Institution: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,850
OpenAlex ID: W4311737454