The Gelb Effect: Brightness Contrast Plus Attention

Brussell, Edward M.; Festinger, Léon

doi:10.2307/1421434

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This explanation invokes the role of attention in weighting the contribution of distance cues. Consistent with this analysis, a number of other studies have shown that attention can modify the weight that an observer gives to a particular source of visual information (Brussell, 1973;Brussell & Festinger, 1973;Coren & Porac, 1983;Festinger, Coren, & Rivers, 1970;Gogel, 1965Gogel, , 1967Gogel & MacCracken, 1979;Gogel & Tietz, 1976;Tsal, 1984). If supported by additional research, this effect of attention on the weighting of distance cues may prove to be of considerable importance in understanding the effect of task variables and instructions on perceived distance.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Agreement between indirect measures of perceived distance

Gogel

Loomis

Newman

et al. 1985

Perception & Psychophysics

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Agreement between indirect measures of perceived distance

Gogel

Loomis

Newman

et al. 1985

Perception & Psychophysics

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“…For example, the degree of perceptual contrast or assimilation in striped patterns depends on which part of the display is considered "figure" and which is considered "ground" (Festinger et aI., 1970). The part of the visual field to which one attends shows brightness contrast (Brussell & Festinger, 1973;Coren, 1969), whereas the unattended regions exhibit assimilation (Festinger et aI., 1970). In the present experiments, subjects focused attention on the saltiness intensities ofall the stimuli presented, and the universal finding of contrast is, therefore, in line with the findings in visual perception.…”

Section: Variables Affecting Size Of Cumulative Successive Contrastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of cumulative successive contrast in saltiness intensity judgments

Schifferstein¹,

Oudejans²

1996

Perception & Psychophysics

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When all stimuli elicit the same taste quality, solutions preceded by a high concentration level are judged to be significantly less intense than solutions preceded by a low concentration level. After repetitious stimulation with a different tasting stimulus, the intensity of the present stimulus is overestimated. This phenomenon is called "successive contrast." In the present study, the cumulative effects of three identical stimuli on the saltiness ratings for a test stimulus are investigated. The preceding stimuli are manipulated with regard to taste quality, saltiness intensity, total taste intensity, and complexity. Whether the size of the cumulative contrast effect is associated with the degree of dissimilarity between preceding stimuli and test stimulus, or with the saltiness or total taste intensity of the preceding stimuli, is investigated. The size of the contrast effect depends on the type of preceding stimulus, its intensity, and the type of test stimulus. No association was found with judgments of the degree of dissimilarity between the preceding stimuli and the test stimulus. For nonsalty preceding stimuli, the contrast effects are independent of concentration level. When the preceding stimuli taste at least partly salty, the total intensity appears to determine the size of the contrast for an unmixed salty test stimulus.

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“…Stewart (1959) demonstrated that a Gelb disk progressively darkens as the area of a white spot placed over it is increased, and concluded that this phenomenon was simply another example of the operation of the laws of brightness contrast. As derived from the attentional model, Brussell and Festinger (1973) predicted that a Gelb disk with either a small white spot or small black spot over it would be seen as darker than the same disk with no spot over it. This was experimentally tested and confirmed.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Attention, brightness contrast, and assimilation: The influence of relative area

Brussell

1973

Perception & Psychophysics

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A model of information transmission in the visual system which describes the effect of attention on apparent brightness is examined. This model states in part that the luminance of the portion of the visual field which captures the attention is overweighted in arriving at an overall average luminance level across the visual field. As this average must be computed with respect to both luminance and relative area, it is hypothesized that increasing the relative area of the portion of the visual field that captures the attention will result in a greater effect on the apparent brightness of all parts of the visual field. Two predictions, which involve the effect of relative area on apparent brightness, are experimentally tested and confirmed. Festinger, Coren, and Rivers (1970) have recently proposed a model of information transmission in the visual system which describes the effect of attention on apparent brightness. It is based in part on studies which imply that the best information on the retina is information about change in stimulation (Riggs, Ratliff, Cornsweet, & Cornsweet, 1953;Hartline, 1969). The model assumes that in order to assess the brightness levels of different portions of the visual field, the visual system computes an overall average luminance level (Buhler, 1922; Katz, 1935) and information about luminance differences is symmetrically superimposed on the average. The visual system then assumes uniformity of stimulation between the contours (Krauskopf, 1963;Yarbus, 1967; Gerrits, 1967) such that the brightness level at the contours becomes the brightness level between the contours. Included in the determination of the overall average luminance level is the overweighted luminance of the portion of the visual field which captures the attention (Helson, 1943).It follows from this model that the apparent brightness of various portions of the visual field should be affected by the luminance of the part which captures the attention. When considering a gray and white display, the gray should be seen .as darker if it captures the attention (contrast) and lighter if the white part captures the attention (assimilation). In a gray and black display, the gray should be seen as lighter if it captures the attention (contrast) and darker if the black part captures the attention (assimilation). By manipulating which portion of a gray and white or gray and black display would be likely to capture and hold the *Based on a dissertation presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science of the New School for Social Research. The research reported in this paper was supported by NIH Grant 16327, of which the principal investigator is Leon Festinger. The author wishes to thank Leon Festinger and Hiroshi Ono for their comments on the manuscript. tNow at Department of Psychology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Downsview, Ontario, M31 IP3, Canada. attention, Festinger, Coren, and Rivers (1970) have shown that brightness assimilation seems to occur only if the p...

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The Gelb Effect: Brightness Contrast Plus Attention

Cited by 12 publications

References 15 publications

Agreement between indirect measures of perceived distance

Agreement between indirect measures of perceived distance

Determinants of cumulative successive contrast in saltiness intensity judgments

Attention, brightness contrast, and assimilation: The influence of relative area

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