The Poggendorff Illusion with Subjective Contours

Abstract

Gregory (1972) has claimed that the Poggendorff misalignment effect occurs when the collinear obliques are separated by subjective rather than real contours. He used two figures to demonstrate this variant of the illusion. Two experiments to test the claim are reported. The first showed that apparent misalignment in one of the two original figures is no greater than that with two obliques alone (the oblique line effect), but misalignment in the other is greater than with two oblique lines and than with a control without subjective contours. The second experiment showed that apparent misalignment in the second figure was less than in two control figures without subjective contours. Since this reduced effect was probably due to the nature of the intersection between the oblique and a semi-circular element, the role of subjective contours remains unsettled.