Individual difference in serial dependence results from opposite influences of perceptual choices and motor responses

Abstract

Natural image statistics exhibit temporal regularities of slow changes and short-term correlations and visual perception, too, is biased toward recently seen stimuli, i.e., a positive serial dependence. Some studies report strong individual differences in serial dependence in perceptual decision-making: some observers show positive serial effects, others repulsive effects, and some show no bias. To understand these contrasting results, this study separates the influences of physical stimuli per se, perceptual choices, and motor responses on serial dependence in perceptual decision making. In two experiments, human observers reported which orientation (45°or −45°, at threshold contrast) they perceived. Experiment 1, used a consistent mapping between stimulus and response buttons whereas in Experiment 2, observers did two tasks: one with a consistent stimulus-response mapping, the other with a random stimulus-response mapping (perceptual choice and motor response unrelated). Results show that the stimulus percept (not the physical stimulus per se) affected subsequent perceptual choices in an attractive way and that motor responses produced a repulsive serial effect. When the choice-response mapping was consistent (inseparable choice and response, typical of most experiments), individual differences in the overall serial effect was observed: some were positive, some repulsive, and some were bias-free. The multiple regression analysis revealed that observers' overall serial effects in the consistent choice-response mapping task could be predicted by their serial effects for choices and motor responses in the random mapping task. These individual differences likely reflect relative weightings of a positive choice bias and a repulsive motor bias.

Serial dependence revealed in history-dependent perceptual templates

“…This effective facilitation could involve a change in sensitivity based on prior stimuli 21 and/or an orientation-dependent modulation of criterion. 28 Previous classification image literature has assumed that the internal template is stable over time. As such, classification-image experiments typically analyze each trial independently.…”

Auditory Rate Perception Displays a Positive Serial Dependence

“…Although we found response was key in forming positive serial dependence, it may be not due to the motor system per se. In fact, there are studies showing that motor responses show repulsive serial dependence, that is, a tendency of alternating motor responses between trials (Pape et al., 2017; Pape & Siegel, 2016; Zhang & Alais, 2020). It is possible that the positive serial dependence is the characteristic of working memory in stabilizing representations of the outside world by integrating information over time (Kiyonaga et al., 2017).…”

“…Here, it is possible that the requirement of making responses helps transfer sensory information into working memory and strengthens the storage of rates in working memory, hence biasing the subsequent rates reproduction. The overall serial dependence may be the weighted average across these serial effects at each stage (Zhang & Alais, 2020), which could be the reason why previous studies found mixed results of serial dependence being repulsive or positive.…”

Perceptual History Acts in World-Centred Coordinates

“…It is unclear why only half had positive serial effects under these conditions, but several reasons are possible. First, many studies ( Bliss et al., 2017 ; Turbett et al., 2019 ; Zhang & Alais, 2020 ) have reported that the magnitude of serial dependence varies considerably between participants, from strong positive effects to clear negative effects. In the current paradigm, the stimulus was presented centrally (necessary to dissociate orientation but not spatial position), rather than peripherally, as in many serial dependence studies of orientation ( Cicchini et al., 2017 ; Fischer & Whitney, 2014 ).…”