We report a novel visual illusion we call the Ring Rotation Illusion (RRI). When a ring of stationary points replaces a circular outline, the ring of points appears to rotate to a halt, although no actual motion has been displayed. Three experiments evaluate the clarity of the illusory rotation. Clarity decreased as the diameter of the circle and ring increased and increased as the number of points forming the ring increased. The optimal interstimulus interval (ISI) between the circle and ring was 90 ms when stimulus presentations lasted 100 ms but 0 ms with 500 ms presentations. We compare the RRI to the Motion Bridging Effect (MBE), a similar illusion in which a stationary ring of points replaces an initial ring of points that spins so rapidly it looks like a stationary outline. A rotation of the stationary ring is seen that usually matches the direction of the initial ring’s invisible spin. Participants reported a slightly more frequent and clearer motion percept with the MBE than RRI. ISI manipulations had similar effects on the two illusions, but the effects of number of points and ring diameter were largely restricted to the RRI. We suggest that both the RRI and MBE motion percepts are produced by a visual heuristic that holds that the transition from an outline circle to a ring of points is plausibly explained by a rapid spin decelerating to a halt, but in the case of the MBE, an additional direction-sensitive mechanism contributes to this percept.

我们报告了一种新的视觉错觉，我们称之为环旋转错觉(RRI)。当一圈静止点代替圆形轮廓时，虽然没有显示实际运动，但该点圈似乎旋转停止。三个实验评估了幻觉旋转的清晰度。清晰度随着圆和环直径的增加而降低，随着形成环的点数的增加而增加。当刺激呈现持续 100 毫秒时，圆圈和环之间的最佳刺激间隔 (ISI) 为 90 毫秒，但在 500 毫秒呈现时为 0 毫秒。我们将 RRI 与运动桥接效应 (MBE) 进行比较，这是一种类似的错觉，其中一个静止的点环取代了旋转如此之快的初始点环，看起来像一个静止的轮廓。可以看到静止环的旋转，通常与初始环的不可见旋转方向相匹配。参与者报告说，与 RRI 相比，MBE 的运动感知更频繁、更清晰。ISI 操作对两种错觉有类似的影响，但点数和环直径的影响主要限于 RRI。我们建议 RRI 和 MBE 运动感知都是由视觉启发式产生的，该启发式认为从轮廓圆到点环的过渡可以通过快速旋转减速到停止来合理地解释，但在 MBE 的情况下，一个额外的方向敏感机制有助于这种感知。