Effects of selective attention on perceptual filling-in.
After few seconds, a figure steadily presented in peripheral vision becomes perceptually filled-in by its background, as if it "disappeared". We report that directing attention to the color, shape, or location of a figure increased the probability of perceiving filling-in compared to unattended figures, without modifying the time required for filling-in. This effect could be augmented by boosting attention. Furthermore, the frequency distribution of filling-in response times for attended figures could be predicted by multiplying the frequencies of response times for unattended figures with a constant. We propose that, after failure of figure-ground segregation, the neural interpolation processes that produce perceptual filling-in are enhanced in attended figure regions. As filling-in processes are involved in surface perception, the present study demonstrates that even very early visual processes are subject to modulation by cognitive factors.
De Weerd
P
P
University of Maastricht. P.deweerd@psychology.unimaas.nl
Smith
E
E
Greenberg
P
P
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003118:Color Perception; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception