An attempt is made to develop a general model of perceptual-centre determination. The model describes the possible ‘perceptual operations’ involved in determining the perceptual centre of flat figures. The specific steps in the model are: (i) determining the orientation and size of the figure; (ii) determining the ‘base’ of the figure and its ‘top—bottom axis’. It is suggested that anisotropy along the main axes of the figures determines a displacement of the perceptual centre toward the phenomenal top of the shape. A quantitative measure for the displacement of the perceptual centre from the area barycentre of the figure is introduced.
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