A review on various explanations of Ponzo-like illusions

Yildiz, Gizem Y.; Sperandio, Irene; Kettle, Christine; Chouinard, Philippe A.

doi:10.3758/s13423-021-02007-7

Cited by 25 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…There is certainly evidence that multiple underlying mechanisms contribute to the classic Ebbinghaus illusion (Rose and Bressan, 2002), such as contour integration (Jaeger and Klahs, 2015;Todorović and Jovanović, 2018), figural extent (Kirsch and Kunde, 2021), and size constancy (Doherty et al, 2010). Likewise, the same is true for the Corridor and Ponzo illusions (Yildiz et al, 2021). Future research will be necessary to determine if and how motion dynamics modulate the contribution of depth cues (e.g., linear perspective, looming/receding) and geometric cues (e.g., contour attraction and repulsion, spatial extent) to size perception.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The Ebbinghaus illusion is often described as a size contrast illusion (Mruczek et al, 2017b), although contour interactions between the target and inducers (Jaeger and Klahs, 2015;Todorović and Jovanović, 2018) and other factors (Rose and Bressan, 2002;Doherty et al, 2010;Kirsch and Kunde, 2021) also likely contribute to the illusory effect. In the Corridor illusion (von Bezold, 1884), which is most often described as a size constancy illusion (Yildiz et al, 2021), a circle placed at the "near" end of a corridor defined by pictorial depth cues appears smaller than the same circle placed at the "far" end of the corridor. Similarly, in the Ponzo illusion (Ponzo, 1912), converging lines around a pair of equally sized circles alters the perceived size of the circles through a combination of depth and contour interaction cues (Yildiz et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Corridor illusion (von Bezold, 1884), which is most often described as a size constancy illusion (Yildiz et al, 2021), a circle placed at the "near" end of a corridor defined by pictorial depth cues appears smaller than the same circle placed at the "far" end of the corridor. Similarly, in the Ponzo illusion (Ponzo, 1912), converging lines around a pair of equally sized circles alters the perceived size of the circles through a combination of depth and contour interaction cues (Yildiz et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The combination of target motion and dynamic changes in context greatly enhance visual size illusions

Mruczek

Fanelli

Kelly

et al. 2022

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Perceived size is a function of viewing distance, retinal images size, and various contextual cues such as linear perspective and the size and location of neighboring objects. Recently, we demonstrated that illusion magnitudes of classic visual size illusions may be greatly enhanced or reduced by adding dynamic elements. Specifically, a dynamic version of the Ebbinghaus illusion (classically considered a “size contrast” illusion) led to a greatly enhanced illusory effect, whereas a dynamic version of the Corridor illusion (a “size constancy” illusion) led to a greatly diminished illusory effect. Although these differences may arise from the different processes underlying these illusions (size contrast vs. size constancy), the dynamic variants we tested in our previous work also differed in the nature of the dynamic elements; specifically, whereas the Dynamic Ebbinghaus included a moving target and inducers that changed size and position, the Dynamic Corridor only included a moving target on a static background. Here, we explore further dynamic versions of the Ebbinghaus illusion and the Corridor and Ponzo illusions by separately manipulating three types of dynamic elements: target motion, context translation, and dynamic changes in context. Across five experiments examining 21 dynamic illusory configurations, adding target motion or a dynamically changing context separately resulted in little-to-no illusory effect. In contrast, the combination of target motion and a dynamically changing context led to a robust size illusion, consistent with an interactive effect. However, illusory effects that exceeded the matched classic, static illusory configuration were only observed for the dynamic versions of the Ebbinghaus illusion and the Revealed Ponzo illusions, in which the contextual elements changed size. We conclude that the combination of target motion and a dynamically changing context are necessary to produce dynamic size illusions, but that enhancement above and beyond static illusions may be largely specific to size contrast effects. Our results have important implications for the integration of motion signals, a ubiquitous environmental stimulus, in the perception of object size.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The combination of target motion and dynamic changes in context greatly enhance visual size illusions

Mruczek

Fanelli

Kelly

et al. 2022

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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“…Her results demonstrated that the presence of a Ponzo-like central area affected the strength of the Poggendorff illusion and concluded that “… the Ponzo illusion and the Poggendorff illusion are attributable to similar processes and are not different kinds of illusions”. Expanding on Gregory’s misapplied perceptual constancy theory, several studies have shown that the strength of many Ponzo-like illusions increases with the number of pictorial depth cues added to the image display [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. For example, in a series of recent studies, we added linear perspective cues and textures to a corridor background image and measured the strength of a resulting Ponzo-like illusion [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Expanding on Gregory’s misapplied perceptual constancy theory, several studies have shown that the strength of many Ponzo-like illusions increases with the number of pictorial depth cues added to the image display [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. For example, in a series of recent studies, we added linear perspective cues and textures to a corridor background image and measured the strength of a resulting Ponzo-like illusion [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Our results revealed that illusion strength increases with pictorial depth cues added to the image display.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Adding Pictorial Depth Cues to the Poggendorff Illusion

Yildiz

Evans

Chouinard

2022

Vision

Self Cite

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We tested if the misapplication of perceptual constancy mechanisms might explain the perceived misalignment of the oblique lines in the Poggendorff illusion. Specifically, whether these mechanisms might treat the rectangle in the middle portion of the Poggendorff stimulus as an occluder in front of one long line appearing on either side, causing an apparent decrease in the rectangle’s width and an apparent increase in the misalignment of the oblique lines. The study aimed to examine these possibilities by examining the effects of adding pictorial depth cues. In experiments 1 and 2, we presented a central rectangle composed of either large or small bricks to determine if this manipulation would change the perceived alignment of the oblique lines and the perceived width of the central rectangle, respectively. The experiments demonstrated no changes that would support a misapplication of perceptual constancy in driving the illusion, despite some evidence of perceptual size rescaling of the central rectangle. In experiment 3, we presented Poggendorff stimuli in front and at the back of a corridor background rich in texture and linear perspective depth cues to determine if adding these cues would affect the Poggendorff illusion. The central rectangle was physically large and small when presented in front and at the back of the corridor, respectively. The strength of the Poggendorff illusion varied as a function of the physical size of the central rectangle, and, contrary to our predictions, the addition of pictorial depth cues in both the central rectangle and the background decreased rather than increased the strength of the illusion. The implications of these results with regards to different theories are discussed. It could be the case that the illusion depends on both low-level and cognitive mechanisms and that deleterious effects occur on the former when the latter ascribes more certainty to the oblique lines being the same line receding into the distance.

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