Data from: Camouflage, detection and identification of moving targets

Nearly all research on camouflage has investigated its effectiveness for
concealing stationary objects. However, animals have to move, and patterns
that only work when the subject is static will heavily constrain
behaviour. We investigated the effects of different camouflages on the
three stages of predation—detection, identification and capture—in a
computer-based task with humans. An initial experiment tested seven
camouflage strategies on static stimuli. In line with previous literature,
background-matching and disruptive patterns were found to be most
successful. Experiment 2 showed that if stimuli move, an isolated moving
object on a stationary background cannot avoid detection or capture
regardless of the type of camouflage. Experiment 3 used an identification
task and showed that while camouflage is unable to slow detection or
capture, camouflaged targets are harder to identify than uncamouflaged
targets when similar background objects are present. The specific details
of the camouflage patterns have little impact on this effect. If one has
to move, camouflage cannot impede detection; but if one is surrounded by
similar targets (e.g. other animals in a herd, or moving background
distractors), then camouflage can slow identification. Despite previous
assumptions, motion does not entirely ‘break’ camouflage.

现有关于伪装的研究几乎均围绕其对静止物体的隐蔽效果展开。然而动物必然需要移动，仅在目标处于静止状态下生效的伪装模式，会极大限制其行为自由度。本研究通过面向人类参与者的计算机任务，探究了不同伪装策略对捕食行为三个阶段——即探测、识别与捕获——的影响。初始实验针对静态视觉刺激，测试了七种伪装策略。与既往研究结论一致，背景匹配与破坏式伪装的隐蔽效果最为显著。实验2结果显示，若视觉刺激发生移动，静止背景下的孤立移动物体，无论采用何种伪装策略，均无法避免被探测与捕获。实验3采用识别任务范式，结果表明：尽管伪装无法延缓探测或捕获进程，但当背景中存在相似干扰物体时，带有伪装的目标相较于无伪装目标更难被识别。伪装图案的具体细节对该效应影响甚微。若目标必须移动，伪装无法阻碍其被探测；但当目标被同类目标（例如群体中的其他动物，或移动背景干扰物）包围时，伪装可延缓识别过程。尽管既往研究存在相关假设，但移动并未完全“破坏”伪装的隐蔽效果。