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.目前几乎所有关于伪装的研究，均聚焦于其对静止物体的隐蔽效能。然而，动物必然会发生移动，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。本研究通过人类参与的计算机实验任务，探究了不同伪装策略对捕食过程三个核心阶段——探测、识别与捕获——的影响。初始实验在静态刺激物上测试了七种伪装策略，结果与既往研究相符：背景匹配型与干扰型伪装模式的隐蔽效能最为突出。实验2结果显示，若刺激物发生移动，那么静止背景上的孤立移动物体，无论采用何种伪装策略，均无法避免被探测或捕获。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，但当背景中存在同类物体时，带伪装的目标相较于无伪装目标更难被识别。伪装模式的具体细节对该效应影响甚微。若必须移动，伪装无法阻碍探测；但当自身被同类目标（例如群体中的其他动物，或作为背景干扰物的移动物体）环绕时，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”伪装效果。