Previous investigations have shown that the response of spatial-frequency-specific channels in the human visual system is differentially affected by adaptation to gratings of distinct spatial frequencies and/or orientations. A study is reported of the effects of adaptation to vertical or horizontal gratings of a high or a low spatial frequency on the extent of the Brentano form of the Müller-Lyer illusion in human observers. It is shown that the illusion decreases after adaptation to vertical gratings of low spatial frequency, but seems unaffected otherwise. These results are consistent with the notion of visual channels that are spatial-frequency and orientation specific, and support the argument that the Müller-Lyer illusion may be due primarily to lower-spatial-frequency components in the Fourier spectra of the image.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
von BekesyG, 1968“Brightness distribution across Mach bands measured with flicker photometry and the linearity of sensory nervous interaction”Journal of the Optical Society of America581–8.
2.
BlakemoreCCampbellF W, 1969“On the existence of neurons in the human visual system sensitive to the orientation and size of retinal images”Vision Research203237–260.
3.
BlakemoreCNachmiasJ, 1971“Orientation specificity on two visual aftereffects”Journal of Physiology (London)213157–174.
4.
BlakemoreCSuttonP, 1969“Size adaptation: A new aftereffect”Science166245–247.
5.
CampbellF WKulikowskiJ J, 1966“Orientation selectivity of the human visual system”Journal of Physiology (London)187437–445.
6.
CampbellF WRobsonJ G, 1968“Application of Fourier analysis to the visibility of gratings”Journal of Physiology (London)197551–566.
CarrascoMFigueroaJ G, 1985“Una distincion experimental entre los modelos visuales de caracteristicas locales y de frecuencia espacial” (An experimental distinction between local characteristics and spatial frequency visual models) summary in Proceedings of the IV Mexican Congress of PsychologyMexico City, November 1985.
9.
CavanaghPAnstisS M, 1980“Visual psychophysics on the Apple II: Getting started”Behavioral Research Methods and Instrumentation12614–626.
10.
ChiangC, 1968, “A new theory of explaining geometrical illusions produced by crossing lines”Perception & Psychophysics3174–176.
11.
CorenSGirgusJ S, 1978Seeing Is Deceiving: The Psychology of Visual Illusions (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates).
12.
De ValoisR LDe ValoisK K, 1980“Spatial vision”Annual Review of Psychology31309–341.
13.
FromeFLevinsonJ ZDanielsonJ TClavadetscherJ E, 1979“Shift in perception of size after adaptation to gratings”Science2061327–1329.
GinsburgA P, 1971Psychological Correlates of a Model of the Human Visual SystemMS thesis, GE/EE/719–2, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, USA.
16.
GinsburgA P, 1975“Is the illusory triangle physical or imagery?”Science257219–220.
17.
GinsburgA P, 1978Visual Information Processing Based on Spatial Filters Constrained by Biological DataPhD thesis, Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, USA.
18.
GinsburgA P, 1979“Visual perception based on spatial filtering constrained by biological data”Proceedings of the International Conference on Cybernetics and Society (IEEE Catalog No. 79CH1424–1SMC).
19.
GinsburgA P, 1984“Visual form perception based on biological filtering” in Sensory Experience, Adaptation and Perception Eds SpillmanLWootenB R, (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates) pp 53–72.
20.
GinsburgA PEvansP W, 1979“Predicting visual illusions from filtered images based upon biological data”Journal of the Optical Society of America691443.
21.
GregoryR L, 1963“Distortion of visual space as inappropriate constancy scaling”Nature (London)199678–680.
22.
JuleszB, 1971Foundations of Cyclopean Perception (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press).
23.
JuleszBSchumerR A, 1981“Early visual perception”Annual Review of Psychology32575–627.
24.
LangeR VSiegelCStecherS, 1973“Adapted and unadapted spatial frequency channels”Vision Research132139–2145.
25.
MaffeiLFiorentiniABistiS, 1973“Neuronal correlate of perceptual adaptation to gratings”Science1821036–1038.
26.
MovshonJ ABlakemoreC B, 1973“Orientation specificity and spatial selectivity in human vision”Perception253–60.
27.
OsawaK, 1978“Simulation of the optical illusions using a spatial filter”Pattern Recognition10237–242.
28.
PantleASekulerR, 1968“Size detecting mechanisms in human vision”Science1621146–1148.
29.
RobinsonJ O, 1973The Psychology of Visual Illusions (London: Hutchinson).
30.
StromeyerC F, 1972“Edge contingent color aftereffects: Spatial frequency specificity”Vision Research12717–733.
31.
WardL MCorenS, 1976“The effect of optically induced blur on the magnitude of the Müller-Lyer illusion”Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society7483–484.
32.
WarrenR M, 1976“Auditory illusions and perceptual processes” in Contemporary Issues in Experimental Phonetics Ed. LassN J, (New York: Academic Press) pp 389–417.
33.
WarrenR MBashfordJ A, 1977“Müller-Lyer illusions: Their origin in processes facilitating object recognition”Perception6615–626.
34.
WestheimerG, 1984“Spatial vision”Annual Review of Psychology35201–226.
