title: Flank transparency: the effects of gaps, line spacing, and apparent motion.
abstract: We analyze the properties of a dynamic color-spreading display created by adding narrow colored flanks to rigidly moving black lines where these lines fall in the interior of a stationary virtual disk. This recently introduced display (Wollschläger et al, 2001 Perception 30 1423-1426) induces the perception of a colored transparent disk bounded by strong illusory contours. It provides a link between the classical neon-color-spreading effect and edge-induced color spreading as discussed by Pinna et al (2001 Vision Research 41 2669-2676). We performed three experiments to quantitatively study (i) the enhancing influence of apparent motion; (ii) the degrading effect of small spatial discontinuities (gaps) between lines and flanks; and (iii) the spatial extent of the color spreading. We interpret the results as due to varying degrees of objecthood of the dynamically specified disk: increased objecthood leads to increased surface visibility in both contour and color.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Psychologie, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Germany. dwoll@psychologie.uni-kiel.de
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wollschläger
authors.forename: Antonio M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Donald D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Hoffman
mesh_terms: D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009903:Optical Illusions; D011601:Psychophysics