Different masking effects on "hole" and "no-hole" figures.
Global information is considered the primitive of visual perception in Gestalt psychology. Further, L. Chen (2005) proposed a new theory of topological visual perception. According to this theory, the perception of topological difference is faster than other feature differences. However, it is still not clear why topological perception has the priority. Based on previous studies, we hypothesize that it is caused by the different perception between figures with "hole" and figures without "hole" in the primitive of vision. In the present paper, four behavioral experiments and one ERP experiment were presented. Four behavioral experiments utilizing backward masking paradigm demonstrated that under the same masking effect, "hole" was easier perceived than "no hole". The ERP data may suggest that feedback connection in visual ventral pathway is disturbed by backward masking for "no-hole" stimuli, while it almost remains the same for "hole" stimuli. We suggest that temporal visual cortex is sensitive to "hole", thus facilitating the feedback connection to the occipital cortex. That is one of the reasons why topological perception is prior to local perception.
Zhang
Junjun
J
Lab of Mind, Art & Computation, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
Zhu
Weina
W
Ding
Xiaojun
X
Zhou
Changle
C
Hu
Xintian
X
Ma
Yuanye
Y
D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D025461:Feedback, Physiological / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010470:Perceptual Masking / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*