Subjective figure reversal in two- and three-dimensional perceptual space.
A permanently illuminated pattern of Mach's truncated pyramid can be perceived according to the experimental instruction given, either as a three-dimensional reversible figure with spontaneously changing convex and concave interpretation (in one experiment), or as a two-dimensional reversible figure-ground pattern (in another experiment). The reversal rate was about twice as slow, without the subjects being aware of it, if it was perceived as a three-dimensional figure compared to the situation when it was perceived as two-dimensional. It may be hypothetized that in the three-dimensional case, the process of perception requires more sequential steps than in the two-dimensional one.
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011601:Psychophysics; D013997:Time Factors