On the role of contrast polarity in perceptual organization: A Gestalt approach.

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-396
Author(s):  
Baingio Pinna ◽  
Livio Conti ◽  
Daniele Porcheddu
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Organization ◽  
Contrast Polarity

scholarly journals The Limiting Case of Amodal Completion: The Phenomenal Salience and the Role of Contrast Polarity

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinna ◽  
Conti
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Organization ◽  
Amodal Completion ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Good Continuation ◽  
Contrast Polarity ◽  
Visual Phenomenon ◽  
Continuous Object ◽  
Limiting Case ◽  
Visual Properties

In this work, we demonstrated unique and relevant visual properties imparted by contrast polarity in perceptual organization and in eliciting amodal completion, which is the vivid completion of a single continuous object of the visible parts of an occluded shape despite portions of its boundary contours not actually being seen. T-junction, good continuation, and closure are considered the main principles involved according to relevant explanations of amodal completion based on the simplicity–Prägnanz principle, Helmholtz’s likelihood, and Bayesian inference. The main interest of these approaches is to explain how the occluded object is completed, what is the amodal shape, and how contours of partially visible fragments are relatable behind an occluder. Different from these perspectives, amodal completion was considered here as a visual phenomenon and not as a process, i.e., the final outcome of perceptual processes and grouping principles. Therefore, the main question we addressed through our stimuli was “What is the role of shape formation and perceptual organization in inducing amodal completion?” To answer this question, novel stimuli, similar to limiting cases and instantiae crucis, were studied through Gestalt experimental phenomenology. The results demonstrated the domination of the contrast polarity against good continuation, T-junctions, and regularity. Moreover, the limiting conditions explored revealed a new kind of junction next to the T- and Y-junctions, respectively responsible for amodal completion and tessellation. We called them I-junctions. The results were theoretically discussed in relation to the previous approaches and in the light of the phenomenal salience imparted by contrast polarity.

scholarly journals On the Role of Contrast Polarity: In Response to van der Helm’s Comments

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Baingio Pinna ◽  
Livio Conti
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Organization ◽  
Amodal Completion ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Good Continuation ◽  
Contrast Polarity ◽  
Experimental Phenomenology ◽  
Shape Formation ◽  
New Phenomena ◽  
Visual Properties

In this work, we discussed and counter-commented van der Helm’s comments on our previous paper (Pinna and Conti, Brain Sci., 2019, 9, 149), where we demonstrated unique and relevant visual properties imparted by contrast polarity in eliciting amodal completion. The main question we addressed was: “What is the role of shape formation and perceptual organization in inducing amodal completion?” To answer this question, novel stimuli were studied through Gestalt experimental phenomenology. The results demonstrated the domination of the contrast polarity against good continuation, T-junctions, and regularity. Moreover, the limiting conditions explored revealed a new kind of junction next to the T- and Y-junctions, respectively responsible for amodal completion and tessellation. We called them I-junctions. The results were theoretically discussed in relation to the previous approaches and in the light of the phenomenal salience imparted by contrast polarity. In counter-commenting van der Helm’s comments we went into detail of his critiques and rejected all of them point-by-point. We proceeded by summarizing hypotheses and discussion of the previous work, then commenting on each critique through old and new phenomena and clarifying the meaning of our previous conclusions.

scholarly journals The role of learning in the perceptual organization of a face

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 613-613
Author(s):  
J. Bittner ◽  
M. Wenger ◽  
R. Von Der Heide ◽  
D. Fitousi
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Organization

scholarly journals The role of perceptual organization in crowding

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 625-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Moore ◽  
A. Chung
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Organization

scholarly journals A-49 Visual Memory Errors and Intelligence: The Role of Verbal Mediation

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 908-909
Author(s):  
K Hakinson ◽  
J Moses ◽  
J RIvera ◽  
A Guerra ◽  
M Davis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component Analysis ◽  
Perceptual Organization ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Component Analysis ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Verbal Mediation ◽  
Memory Errors ◽  
Shared Variance

Abstract Objective Examine the relationship of verbal mediation with visual memory errors and intelligence to understand the role of spoken language on other assessment measures. Method Assessment records were obtained from a Veteran Affairs clinic for veterans (n=100) with diverse neuropsychiatric conditions who completed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, third edition (WAIS-III), Multilingual Aphasia Examination (MAE), and Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT). A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to examine the interrelationship among these assessments. The components of spoken language, types of errors on the BVRT, and the four factors of the WAIS-III were factored using the PCA to identify common sources of variance. Results A principal component analysis revealed a six-factor model explaining 68.16% of the shared variance among the WAIS-III factors, MAE components, and BVRT Errors. Omission errors loaded with Processing Speed and Controlled Word Association. Distortions and size errors loaded with Perceptual Organization. Size errors also loaded with Verbal Comprehension and Visual Naming. Misplacements loaded with Working Memory and Sentence Repetition. Misplacements, perseverations, and omissions loaded with the Token Test (a measure associated with auditory comprehension). Rotation errors loaded with Perceptual Organization. Conclusions Results indicated significant shared variance between visual memory errors, spoken language, and intelligence factors. This suggests that spoken language is involved in the process of visual memory, and deficits in spoken language may result in increased errors on visual memory tasks. Therefore, treatment recommendations for visual memory difficulties should take into consideration verbal capabilities and intelligence factors to better individualize treatment.

When Scenes Look Like Materials: René Magritte’s Reversible Figure–Ground Motif

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 299-310
Author(s):  
J. Brendan Ritchie ◽  
Benjamin van Buren
Keyword(s):  
Image Segmentation ◽  
Perceptual Organization ◽  
Scene Perception ◽  
Reversible Figure ◽  
Image Statistics ◽  
Figural Region ◽  
Frequent Motif ◽  
Visual Segmentation ◽  
Positive Space

We draw attention to a frequent motif in the work of the Belgian surrealist René Magritte (1898–1967). In the motif, a scene is depicted that contains a silhouette, which itself contains another depicted scene. The silhouette is bistable, appearing either as a figural region whose positive space is covered, or filled, with the interior scene texture, or as a ground region providing a window onto a more distant scene. We call this the ‘reversible figure–ground motif’. Because the stimulus does not change when our percept changes, the motif’s appearance at any particular moment cannot be explained by its local or global image statistics. Instead principles of perceptual organization, and in particular image segmentation and figure–ground assignment, appear crucial for determining whether the interior of the silhouette is processed as a material vs. a scene — which in turn reflects the fundamental role of visual segmentation in material and scene perception more generally.

Perceptual Organization and White's Illusion

Perception ◽  
10.1068/p3216 ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barton L Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Organization ◽  
Context Dependence ◽  
Spatial Context ◽  
New Method ◽  
Low Level ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Apparent Lightness

The apparent lightness of a surface can be strongly modulated by the spatial context in which it is embedded. Early theories of such context dependence emphasized the role of low-level mechanisms that sense border contrast, whereas a number of recent authors have emphasized the role of perceptual organization in determining perceived lightness. One of the simplest and most theoretically challenging lightness illusions was described by White. This illusion has been explained with a variety of different models, ranging from low-level filter outputs to computations underlying the extraction of mid-level representations of surfaces. Here, I present a new method for determining the organizational forces that shape this illusion. I show that the spatial context of White's pattern not only transforms the apparent lightness of homogeneous target patches, but can also induce dramatic inversions of figure–ground relationships of textured target regions. These phenomena provide new evidence for the role of scission in causing the lightness illusion experienced in White's effect.

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