The perceived strength of illusory contours

Banton, Tom; Levi, Dennis M.

doi:10.3758/bf03211704

Cited by 45 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(51 reference statements)

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“…Whereas brightness and depth, terms applicable to generic visual scenes, have standard and well-specified definitions, it seems that the only consistent definition given to strength is "that characteristic which is not brightness or depth." Observers have been instructed to rate strength (Day & Kasperczyk, 1983), salience , clarity (Halpern, 1981;Shipley & Kellman, 1992a), distinctness/sharpness (Petry et aI., 1983), perceived contrast (Banton & Levi, 1992), and several other variants of these terms, while matching procedures have used benchmark stimuli of questionable equivalence. Subjects in different experiments not only are provided with a variety ofclarity definitions, but often are given only vague indications of what exactly they are rating.…”

Section: Characteristics Of Illusory Figuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The role of the spatial extent (or retinal size) ofthe inducing elements has always been a topic of intense research, but the recent publications of Shipley and Kellman (1992b) and Banton and Levi (1992) indicate a renewed interest in this area. In discussing inducer spatial extent, one must recognize that, for a given stimulus, several spatial factors may be varied.…”

Section: Low-level Determinantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Illusory contours: Toward a neurally based perceptual theory

Lesher

1995

Psychon Bull Rev

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Although illusory contours were first described nearly a century ago, researchers have only recently begun to approach a consensus on the processes underlying their formation. Neurophysiological and psychophysical evidence indicate that neural mechanisms of the early visual cortex subserve illusory contour generation, although cognitive factors play important roles in determining the fmal percept. I summarize experiments concerning the determinants of illusory contour strength and form, concentrating on findings particularly relevant to modeling. After establishing arguments for the early generation of illusory contours, I provide an overview of formation theories, culminating with descriptions of neural models. The constraints that experimental data place on models are outlined, and neural models are evaluated with respect to these constraints. Throughout the review,I indicate where further experimental and modeling research are critical.Schumann introduced the first illusory contour, depicted in Figure 1a, in 1900, noting that a central "white rectangle with sharply defined contours appears, which objectively are not there." Schumann had discovered and noted two salient features of illusory figures: sharp edges in regions of homogeneous luminance, and a brightening within the figure. Perhaps because this stimulus failed to yield particularly convincing illusory contours, it was not until more than 50 years later that illusory contours became a topic for activeresearch. Although Ehrenstein (1941) demonstrated stimuli with salient illusory contours, it is remarkable that he failed to note their existence in the text of his article explicitly, commenting instead only on illusory brightening effects. Kanizsa's (1955) stunning figures, examples of which are depicted in Figures Iband 1c, produced extremely sharp, salient contours along with obvious brightening, initiating a wave of research.Although there have been a number ofexcellent illusory contour review papers Meyer & Petry, 1987;Parks, 1984), research advances in the psychophysical, neurophysiological, and modeling domains have been more than sufficient to mandate a new summary ofthe literature. Inthis review, I will not only present more recent data, but also employ an approach to the summaries that is markedly different from those previously taken. At the time of the earlier reviews, determination of the locus of formation of illusory contours was the central issue in illusory contour research, a fact reflected in the structure of the review papers. Experimental results were presented primarily in the historical context of supporting or refut-I would like to thank Ennio Mmgolla of Boston University for generously providing many helpful comments and suggestions during the development ofthis review.

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Section: Characteristics Of Illusory Figuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Low-level Determinantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Illusory contours: Toward a neurally based perceptual theory

Lesher

1995

Psychon Bull Rev

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“…Banton and Levi ( 1992) Shipley, 1991) related property, whereby neural unit;; intemct with other m~ura.l units in a topographically rnappccl array over distances that arc proportional to the degree or "fan-in" or input::; to tbc unit,s tbernselves is referred to as sdr.>i.mila·r"i/.y by Grossberg (1987). In other words, c:ells "responsible for" responding to properties :mcb as oriented contrast in ::;rnall regions rnay interact with other like cells over :::rna.!!…”

Section: The Model Of Finkrj and Edelmanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In two recent parametric studies of factors supporting illusory con tom formation, Shipley and I<ellrnan (!992a) and Banton and Levi (1992) reported that the ratio of the length of an illusory con tom to the entire length of a contour corn posed of inducer segments and illusory segrnents was a prirne factor in cletennining the perceived salic~ncc of the illusory contour. We say an illu;;ory contour is S'UJ!J!OTlcd where real luminance gradients specify its location.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of edges and line-ends in illusory contour formation

Lesher

Mingolla²

1993

Vision Research

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“…Since the perceived strength illusory contours cannot be measured physically, estimation report is commonly used as the measure method [19] . Kellman & Loukides [18] defined a normal Kanizsa triangle as the standard illusory contour whose perceived strength was termed as 10.…”

Section: Perception Of Illusory Contours Enhanced In Motionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception of illusory contours enhanced in motion

Ni¹

2003

Sci China Ser C

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Investigation on illusory contours is important for understanding the mechanisms underlying the object recognition of human visual system. Numerous researches have shown that illusory contours formed in motion and stereopsis are generated by the unmatched features. Here we conduct three psychophysical experiments to test if Kanizsa illusory contours are also caused by unmatched information. Different types of motion (including horizontal translation, radial expanding and shrinking) are utilized in the experiments. The results show that no matter under what kind of motion, when figures or background move separately illusory contours are perceived stronger, and there is no significant difference between the perceived strength in these two types of motion. However, no such enhancement of perceived strength is found when figures and background move together. It is found that the strengthened unmatched features generate the enhancement effect of illusory contour perception in motion. Thus the results suggest that the process of unmatched information in visual system is a critical step in the formation of illusory contours.

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The perceived strength of illusory contours

Cited by 45 publications

References 35 publications

Illusory contours: Toward a neurally based perceptual theory

Illusory contours: Toward a neurally based perceptual theory

The role of edges and line-ends in illusory contour formation

Perception of illusory contours enhanced in motion

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