Work

Representational Momentum Transcends Motion

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: To navigate the world, our minds must represent not only how things are now (perception) but also how they are about to be (prediction). However, perception and prediction blur together for objects in motion, a classic finding known as "representational momentum." If you glance at a photo of a person diving into a lake, you will tend to remember them closer to the water than they really were. In seven experiments (with adult participants from the United States) we show that this phenomenon transcends motion: Our minds make predictions that distort our memories about changes that involve no motion whatsoever, including changes in brightness, color saturation, and proportion. Additionally, we use representational momentum to map the limits of automatic prediction, showing that there are no analogous effects for changes in hue. Our automatic predictions distort our memories in many domains-not just motion-and the presence or absence of these distortions expose the inner workings of perception, cognition, and memory.

Source: Psychological Science

DOI: 10.1177/09567976251395074

Authors: Dillon Plunkett, Jorge Morales

Institution: Northeastern University

Language: English

Topic: Visual perception and processing mechanisms

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,900

Funder: Northeastern University