In addition to seeing objects that are directly in view, we also represent objects that are merely implied (e.g., by occlusion, motion, and other cues). What can imply the presence of an object? Here, we explored (in three preregistered experiments; N = 360 adults) the role of physical interaction in creating impressions of objects that are not actually present. After seeing an actor collide with an invisible wall or step onto an invisible box, participants gave facilitated responses to actual, visible surfaces that appeared where the implied wall or box had been—a Stroop-like pattern of facilitation and interference that suggested automatic inferences about the relevant implied surfaces. Follow-up experiments ruled out confounding geometric cues and anticipatory responses. We suggest that physical interactions can trigger representations of the participating surfaces such that we automatically infer the presence of objects implied only by their physical consequences.

除了看到直接在视野中的对象之外，我们还表示仅隐含的对象（例如，通过遮挡、运动和其他线索）。什么可以暗示物体的存在？在这里，我们探索了（在三个预先注册的实验中；N= 360 名成人）身体互动在创造实际不存在的物体印象中的作用。在看到演员与隐形墙相撞或踏上隐形盒子后，参与者对出现在隐含墙或盒子所在位置的实际可见表面做出了促进反应——一种类似于 Stroop 的促进和干扰模式，表明自动推断相关的隐含曲面。后续实验排除了混杂的几何线索和预期反应。我们建议物理交互可以触发参与表面的表示，以便我们自动推断对象的存在仅由它们的物理结果暗示。