Active inference, a framework for modeling how sentient agents behave, is being tested as necessary for changes in conscious content. In an adversarial collaboration, active inference will be contrasted with two other theories that do not require it for consciousness. This study protocol describes an adaptation of the motion-induced blindness paradigm: an active condition where participants direct their gaze toward a target after it disappears from consciousness and report its reappearance, versus a passive condition where participants fixate centrally while the stimulus array moves in a replay of active eye-tracking data. Two experiments will compare target reappearance across conditions to evaluate active inference's contribution to conscious awareness.
Motion-induced blindness (MIB) is an illusion where a peripheral target disappears from awareness when viewed against a moving background. This study measured how long a target remained visible at eight positions around the visual field. Disappearance times and frequencies varied significantly with target location: targets on the cardinal axes (horizontal and vertical) vanished less often and for shorter periods than those on oblique axes, and targets on the horizontal meridian vanished less than those on the vertical. These polar angle asymmetries in MIB suggest that conscious visual perception is not uniform across the visual field, with specific consistencies between visual field location and the timing of perceptual disappearances.