Motion perception is essential to adapt behavior in a dynamic environment. Many studies have suggested that looming motion captures attention, whereas receding motion does not, highlighting the behavioral urgency of motion perception. The present study examined whether attentional resources can be attracted by a specific directed flow in the presence of multiple flows that are simultaneously displayed in the visual field. The results showed that when two flows of opposite direction (looming and receding) are displayed together, participants more efficiently discriminate the target inside the looming motion. When four flows are presented (one looming and three receding or three looming and one receding), the results showed that the target displayed inside the looming flow was more rapidly identified but also suggest that attention can be attracted by receding motion. This suggests that the process inside a looming flow is more efficient, but this effect could not be attributed to attentional focusing processes.
visual attention; motion perception; flow fields; looming motion
