FOCAL VISUAL-ATTENTION PRODUCES ILLUSORY TEMPORAL-ORDER AND MOTION SENSATION

Spatial attention was studied using a new visual illusion of motion: a line, which was presented physically at once, was perceived to be dra wn from one side when attention had been captured to that side of the line by a preceding visual cue stimulus. By comparing with a temporal order task, we showed that the line-motion illusion was produced by ac celeration of visual information processing at the locus of attention. The results suggest that the facilitatory effect of attention is exer ted at relatively early stages of visual information processing where visual signals are to be fed into the motion detecting mechanism.