Serial dependence revealed in history-dependent perceptual templates

• Published in: Current biology 2021-07, Vol.31 (14), p.3185-3191.e3
• Main Authors: Murai, Yuki, Whitney, David
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bias; classification image; orientation; Orientation, Spatial; serial dependence; Visual Perception
• ISSN: 0960-9822; 1879-0445
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.05.006

In any given perceptual task, the visual system selectively weighs or filters incoming information. The particular set of weights or filters form a kind of template, which reveals the regions or types of information that are particularly useful for a given perceptual decision.1,2 Unfortunately, sensory input is noisy and ever changing. To compensate for these fluctuations, the visual system could adopt a strategy of biasing the templates such that they reflect a temporal smoothing of input, which would be a form of serial dependence.3–5 Here, we demonstrate that perceptual templates are, in fact, altered by serial dependence. Using a simple orientation detection task and classification-image technique, we found that perceptual templates are systematically biased toward previously seen, task-irrelevant orientations. The results of an orientation discrimination task suggest that this shift in perceptual template derives from a change in the perceptual appearance of orientation. Our study reveals how serial dependence biases internal templates of orientation and suggests that the sensitivity of classification-image techniques in general could be improved by taking into account history-dependent fluctuations in templates. •The visual system selectively weighs valued incoming information using “templates”•Perceptual templates are biased toward previously seen, task-irrelevant orientations•Templates incorporate serial dependence to smooth noisy visual input•Basic perceptual representations are serially dependent on previous visual input Using an orientation detection task and classification-image technique, Murai and Whitney demonstrate that perceptual templates used by observers to make judgements about incoming information are biased by previously seen stimuli, indicating that some of the most basic perceptual representations are serially dependent on prior experiences.