The Interplay of Prior Information and Motion Cues in Resolving Visual Ambiguity in Agent Perception

Agent perception is essential for social interaction, allowing individuals to interpret and respond to the actions of others within dynamic environments. In this study, we examined on how prior knowledge and motion cues are integrated to influence the temporal dynamics of perceiving agents. In order to make realistic but ambiguous stimuli in motion and form characteristics, we used human, robot, and android agents. Using temporal representational similarity analysis (RSA) on EEG recordings, we analyzed the representation of agent identities under varying conditions—Still versus Moving stimuli and Prior versus Naive contexts. Our findings revealed that prior knowledge and motion cues interact to produce distinct temporal patterns of representation. In the naive condition, information about the agent persisted longer during still presentations than during moving ones, suggesting that the processing of agents depends on the availability of motion information and prior information. Moreover, motion information affects the temporal processing of agents when no prior information about agents is available. These results highlight the critical roles of both bottom-up sensory inputs and top-down expectations and their interactions in resolving the ambiguities inherent in agent perception.