Apparent rarefaction in subjective figures seems to violate the principle of size scaling. It has been claimed that this anomaly is due to a difference in illusory lightness which counteracts the expected effect of illusory depth. Qualitative evidence is presented that neither illusory lightness nor illusory depth have a relevant part in the phenomenon. An alternative account, in which contrast and size are shown to play major roles, is presented and discussed.
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