Illusory Contours: Curious Cases of Simultaneous Brightness Contrast?

Perception ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P Frisby ◽  
Jeremy L Clatworthy
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Inhibition ◽  
Brightness Contrast ◽  
Retinal Images ◽  
Neural Encoding ◽  
Illusory Contours ◽  
Simultaneous Brightness Contrast

It is suggested that simultaneous brightness contrast mediated by lateral inhibition plays an important role in generating many illusory contours. These contours might reflect a further way in which lateral inhibition serves to clarify and sharpen the neural encoding of retinal images.

Does Brightness Contrast Really Affect the Mueller-Lyer Illusion

1981 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 623-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrell L. Butler
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Inhibition ◽  
Brightness Contrast ◽  
Lyer Illusion ◽  
Straight Lines

Several writers have hypothesized that the Mueller-Lyer illusion is influenced by brightness contrast between figure and background. According to them, lateral inhibition in the retina causes displacement in Mueller-Lyer figures at the intersections of lines. They argue that the strength of the displacement varies with brightness contrast between the background and the figure, and they cite research by Pollack and others for support. The experiments reported here show that the Mueller-Lyer illusion is no more affected by changes in contrast than are judgments of single straight lines. These results are not consistent with the view that lateral. inhibition in the retina has an effect on the illusion.

Simultaneous brightness contrast in stereoscopic space

1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 983-II ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Gibbs ◽  
R.B. Lawson
Keyword(s):  
Brightness Contrast ◽  
Simultaneous Brightness Contrast

Amodal Completion versus Induced Inhomogeneities in the Organization of Illusory Figures

Perception ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 627-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Davi ◽  
Baingio Pinna ◽  
Marco Sambin
Keyword(s):  
Phenomenological Model ◽  
Control Experiment ◽  
Amodal Completion ◽  
Brightness Contrast ◽  
Primary Factor ◽  
Paired Comparisons ◽  
Illusory Figure ◽  
Illusory Contours ◽  
Energetic Model ◽  
Method Of Paired Comparisons

An analysis is presented of a phenomenological model of illusory contours. The model is based on amodal completion as the primary factor giving rise to the illusory figure. In the experiment, conducted by the method of paired comparisons, the same parameter was manipulated in two series of equivalent configurations. The first series yielded examples of amodal completion, the second examples of illusory figures. Three groups of subjects evaluated the magnitude of completion, the brightness contrast of the illusory figure, and the contour clarity of the illusory figure. A control experiment was conducted, which demonstrated that in these configurations amodal completion and amodal continuation behave in the same way. Line displacement did not influence the brightness or the contour clarity of the illusory figures, though it influenced the magnitude of amodal completion. These results are in agreement with the energetic model developed by Sambin.

Xerography as a Model of the Visual System

1969 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 543-545
Author(s):  
Willard L. Brigner
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Brightness Contrast ◽  
Simultaneous Brightness Contrast

Xerography has been suggested as a model of the perceptual processes of the visual system. The adequacy of the model was tested in two areas, simultaneous brightness contrast and geometric illusions. Results fail to support the model.

scholarly journals The Additivity of Contrast in the Human Eye

1959 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew Alpern ◽  
Herbert David
Keyword(s):  
Brightness Contrast ◽  
Contrast Effects ◽  
Test Patch ◽  
Human Eye ◽  
Simultaneous Brightness Contrast ◽  
Excitation State

Using the method of binocular brightness matching, simultaneous brightness contrast effects were measured on two observers. The effects of a given pattern were invariably smaller than the summation of the effects of the pattern's components. This failure of additivity was valid both for patterns with isolated components as well as for those with components exactly contiguous with one another. This failure was more pronounced the farther the inducing patterns were from the test patch. These findings are interpreted as indicating that in the human (just as in the Limulus) eye, the amount of inhibition exerted by a given region on its neighbors depends upon the inhibition exerted against it as well as its excitation state.

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