Discrete perception: experimental evidences and neural correlates

• Grant number: 16/20042-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2017
• End date: April 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Cognitive Psychology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: André Mascioli Cravo
• Grantee: Esaú Sirius Ventura Pupo
• Host Institution: Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição (CMCC). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 17/26235-5 - Modulation of cortical oscillatory activity during visual causality judgments, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Although we have the sensation that information is being processed in a continuous manner, there are theories that propose a discrete proccess of perceptual sampling through which information is gathered in small temporal intervals. There are examples of illusions in which a stimulus alters the perception of a past event depending on the moment of its presentation. These effects are compatible with the hypotheses of discrete perception. However, the underlying mechanisms to this apparent discretization of the sensorial proccessing still lacks robust experimental support. To understand better these mechanisms we suggest the investigation of (1) the behavioral pattern in the tasks of causality judgment in the launching effect and colour judgment in the flash-lag, (2) the underlying neural mechanisms for these judgments and (3) the viability of unification of the neural correlates of these effects as evidence for discrete perception. To achieve these aims, two psychophysical experiments will be conducted with concomitant readings of electroencefalography (EEG). The results will provide a better understanding of the temporal dynamics of information processing. (AU)