title: Figural after-effects of Köhler and Wallach reinterpreted.
abstract: A theory of perception is extended to figural after-effects which has been used already to rationalize the illusory phenomena of static visual illusions, fluctuating figures and visual illusions of motion. The theory proposes three laws of perception. All of the extensive observations of Köhler and Wallach are rationalized under these laws embodying the present theoretical orientation. The theory maintains that the experience of perception occurs only during the interaction of forces introduced by a pattern with the forces characteristic of the brain in order to produce the greatest equilibrium within the two systems of forces. A pattern is not reproduced in the brain. A pattern produces a system of forces. Neither the image of the pattern nor its forces impinging on the nervous system produce the perceptual experience. It is during the process of interaction of the forces of the pattern with the forces of the brain and only during this interaction that perception is experience. This interaction is a constant process to integrate the incompatibilities existing between the two system of forces.
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D003867:Depth Perception / Q000502:physiology; D005366:Figural Aftereffect / Q000502:physiology*; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009903:Optical Illusions / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D012858:Size Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors