The Elements of Causal Perception

The perception of cause and effect in sensory events is crucial for understanding our environment and adapting our behavior accordingly. Even simple geometric shapes can evoke clear impressions of causal interactions. This project is based on the idea that the perception of causality is processed by elementary, direction-selective causality detectors located in early visual processing. In ten experimental studies combining psychophysics and eye-tracking, three main objectives are pursued. Firstly, the hypothesis that causality is processed in these detectors will be tested, varying the position of the event in the visual field. Secondly, the role of kinematics, luminance, and other features in the adaptation of causality perception will be examined. Thirdly, the study explores how the results of these detectors are integrated to enable a causal impression in complex environments. The project aims to uncover the mechanisms of causal perception by identifying direction-selective causality detectors and understanding their role in increasingly complex causal events.