The Multiple Determination of Illusory Contours: 2. An Empirical Investigation

Halpern, Diane F.; Salzman, Billie; Harrison, Wayne; Widaman, Keith F.

doi:10.1068/p120293

Cited by 19 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Inaddition, several investigators report that low-level luminance contrast is not a prerequisite for illusory contour formation (Ejima & Takahashi, 1988;Mustillo & Fox, 1986;Prazdny, 1986). However, it is interesting to note that a four-factor model incorporating both high-and low-level processes (Halpern et al, 1983) accounted for 69% of the variance in measures of illusory contour strength, whereas our lowlevel illusory contour length hypothesis accounted for 94 % of the variance (r 2 = .94 for the power function that best fit the data).…”

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confidence: 73%

“…illusory contour figures often appear stratified in depth and appropriately brighter or darker than their background (Petry & Meyer, 1987). Both apparent depth and perceived figure brightness have frequently been used to specify illusory contour strength (Day & Kasperczyk, 1983;Halpern, 1981;Halpern, Salzman, Harrison, & Widaman, 1983;Jory & Day, 1979;Petry, Harbeck, Conway, & Levey, 1983;Watanabe & Oyama, 1988). However, these are attributes of the figures or surfaces formed by illusory contours, and therefore may not reflect the strength of the illusory contours themselves.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The perceived strength of illusory contours

Banton

Levi

1992

Perception & Psychophysics

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confidence: 73%

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confidence: 99%

The perceived strength of illusory contours

Banton

Levi

1992

Perception & Psychophysics

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“…A review of the various earlier studies of illusory figures suggests that these phenomena have multiple determinants (see also Halpern 1981Halpern , 1987Halpern and Salzman 1983;Halpern et al 1983). Neither the Gestalt nor the cognitive approach were successful in providing satisfactory explanations.…”

Section: Toward New Levels Of Analysis and Explanationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenomena of Illusory Form: Can We Bridge the Gap between Levels of Explanation?

Spillmann

Dresp²

1995

Perception

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Abstract. The study of illusory brightness and contour phenomena has become an important tool in modern brain research. Gestalt, cognitive, neural, and computational approaches are reviewed and their explanatory powers are discussed in the light of empirical data. Two wellknown phenomena of illusory form are dealt with, the Ehrenstein illusion and the Kanizsa triangle. It is argued that the gap between the different levels of explanation, bottom-up versus top-down, creates scientific barriers which have all too often engendered unnecessary debate about who is right and who is wrong. In this review of the literature we favour an integrative approach to the question of how illusory form is derived from stimulus configurations which provide the visual system with seemingly incomplete information. The processes that can explain the emergence of these phenomena range from local feature detection to global strategies of perceptual organisation. These processes may be similar to those that help us restore partially occluded objects in everyday vision. To understand better the Ehrenstein and Kanizsa illusions, it is proposed that different levels of analysis and explanation are not mutually exclusive, but complementary. Theories of illusory contour and form perception must, therefore, take into account the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms and their possible interactions with cognitive and attentional processes.

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“…Masks that have this property are all of one class, and we will call them minimal contour masks. Examples of minimal contours are well known in the illusory contour literature; they take the form of radiating spokes that terminate on the illusory contour that they suggest (see Halpern, Salzman, Harrison, & Widamen, 1983;Kanisza, 1976;Stevens, 1983; for examples of this illusion);' The illusory contour shown in Figure lA (adapted from Kanisza, 1976) is minimal and is expected to elicit a minimum of intrachannel inhibition in sustained cells. Consequently, this mask should be unable to produce paracontrast masking in tasks in which edge discrimination is required.…”

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confidence: 99%

Masking with minimal contours: Selective inhibition with low spatial frequencies

Gilden

MacDonald

Lasaga

1988

Perception & Psychophysics

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Paracontrast and metacontrast magnitudes were measured in a target identification task. A particular class of illusory contours is described that did not mask in the paracontrast condition but did show a large metacontrast magnitude. The discontinuity in the masking function is interpreted in terms of the Fourier decomposition of the visual scene that is performed by cells selectively responsive to discrete bands of spatial frequencies. The class of contours that we describe can only mask through inhibition generated by their low spatial frequencies. These results are consistent with recent models of masking based on two independent modes of inhibition-within sustained visual channels, and between sustained and transient visual channels.One of the most important developments in visual psychophysics has been the discovery and classification of cells that are selectively responsive to different bands of spatial frequencies. Psychophysical and electrophysiological measurements (for reviews, see Breitmeyer, 1984;De Valois & De Valois, 1980;Graham, 1981;Shapley & Lennie, 1985; chap. 4) give evidence that the visual scene is represented in early vision in terms of a coarse Fourier decomposition, and that different pieces of the spectrum are processed by independent channels. Recently these ideas have been introduced into a theoretical framework for visual pattern masking (Breitmeyer, 1984;Breitmeyer & Ganz, 1976).Pattern masking is a phenomenon in which perceived contrast or clarity of contour for one stimulus decreases as a result of the presentation of a second stimulus. In paracontrast (mask precedes target) and metacontrast (target precedes mask) masking, there is no overlap between mask and target contour. In this paradigm, it is generally possible to identify that a target has been shown, even when the target suffers contrast reduction and blurring (Breitmeyer, 1984). The loss of contour detail and contrast without complete elimination of stimulus detection suggests that masking operates by differentially affecting the processing of the high-spatial-frequency content of the stimulus. The central idea of Breitmeyer and Ganz's (1976) theory is that there are two independent modes of inhibition acting on the channels that process high spatial frequencies. According to this theory, paracontrast masking is achieved primarily by intrachannel inhibition caused by an antagonistic center-surround interaction within the The authors wish to thank Jack McArdle for several helpful discussions concerning the experimental design and analysis of the data. We also want to acknowledge conversations with Dennis Proffitt and the advice and encouragement he offered. D.G. was supported by NIH Grant HD0703tH>1 during the course of this work. Address correspondence to David Gilden, Department of Psychology, Gilmer Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903-2477. receptive field of a single cell. It is theorized that metaeontrast masking is produced by center-surround interactions (as in paracontrast) and by an addition...

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The Multiple Determination of Illusory Contours: 2. An Empirical Investigation

Cited by 19 publications

References 27 publications

The perceived strength of illusory contours

The perceived strength of illusory contours

Phenomena of Illusory Form: Can We Bridge the Gap between Levels of Explanation?

Masking with minimal contours: Selective inhibition with low spatial frequencies

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