Journal article

Publication year: 2009

Pages: 508-521

Journal: Perception

Volume number: 38

Issue number: 4

ISSN: 0301-0066

eISSN: 1468-4233

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1068/p5886

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Abstract: 
Anomalous motion illusions represent a Popular class of illusions and several studies have made an effort to explain their perception. However, understanding is still inconsistent. Age-related differences in susceptibility to illusory motion may contribute to further clarification of the underlying processing mechanisms. We investigated the effect of age on the perception of four different anomalous motion illusions. The Enigma illusion, the Rotating-Snakes illusion, the Pinna illusion, and the Rotating-Tilted-Lines illusion were tested on a total of one hundred and thirty-nine participants covering an age range from 3 to 82 years. In comparison with Young adults, children showed a lower likelihood of perceiving motion in all illusions with the exception of the Rotating-Tilted-Lines illusion. For adult subjects, we found significant age effects in the Rotating-Snakes illusion and the Rotating-Tilted-Lines illusion: occurrence of the illusory effect decreased with age. The other two illusions turned out to be unaffected by aging. Finally, inter-correlations between different motion illusions revealed that only the Pinna illusion and the Rotating-Tilted-Lines illusion correlated significantly with each other. The results confirm that anomalous motion illusions should not be considered as a homogeneous group. Possible links between perceptual data and neurophysiological changes related to age are discussed. Perceptual differences due to age provide the opportunity to improve our understanding of illusory motion and point to specific underlying mechanisms.

Harvard Citation style: Billino, J., Hamburger, K. and Gegenfurtner, K. (2009) Age effects on the perception of motion illusions, Perception, 38(4), pp. 508-521. https://doi.org/10.1068/p5886

APA Citation style: Billino, J., Hamburger, K., & Gegenfurtner, K. (2009). Age effects on the perception of motion illusions. Perception. 38(4), 508-521. https://doi.org/10.1068/p5886