The influence of illusory contours on the detection of luminance increments and decrements.
The experiment of Dresp and Bonnet [(1991) Vision Research, 31, 1813-1817] was replicated and extended to include measurements of both luminance increment and decrement detection across high luminance illusory contours. The results reveal that illusory contours can influence the detectability of both luminance decrements and increments and, in addition, that the magnitude and even the direction of the effect which illusory contours produce on visual thresholds may vary considerably across individual observers. Finally, in contrast to the monophasic pattern of threshold variation across low luminance illusory contours, the pattern across high luminance contours is oscillatory.
Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo 58105-5075.
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McCourt
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Paulson
D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D009903:Optical Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D010783:Photometry; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology