Dynamic tilt illusion induced by continuous contextual orientation alternations

In the classic tilt illusion, the perceived orientation of a center patch is shifted away from its oriented context. Additionally, a stronger illusion effect is yielded when the center patch is simultaneously rather than asynchronously presented with a constant context for a shorter duration. However, little is known about the temporal characteristic of the tilt illusion in a reverse situation in which a constant center patch is presented throughout while the contexts change. Therefore, we continuously alternated two opposite-oriented contexts and manipulated alternate speeds to examine how the tilt illusion would build up as a function of dynamic contextual alternation. Our results revealed that dynamic alternations between leftward- and rightward-oriented contexts caused a static vertical grating at the center to apparently sway from side to side. More importantly, the apparent sway illusion was modulated by the alternate speed of the oriented contexts (up to 8-10 Hz); the quicker the alternation is, the faster and weaker the apparent sway is. Intriguingly, the temporal characteristic of the "dynamic tilt illusion" suggests that, under a varying environment, the suppressions from temporally adjacent surrounds would be chunked into discrete epochs before affecting our percept.