The generation of illusory contours is closely related to distinct parts of a pattern such as dots, line ends, and corner points. On the other hand, the remarkable property is that gaze at one point of the contours diminishes the illusion and a return of gaze to the whole pattern restores it. Therefore, illusory contours depend on local parts and the whole pattern formed by the parts, and fitting data on the two aspects is necessary to clarify underlying mechanisms. We have obtained such data from the experiments performed to elucidate other visual phenomena. On the basis of the data, the concepts of strength of pattern, strength of its spread effect, ridgelines of the spread effect, and a hollow of the spread effect are introduced and then various phenomena on illusory contours, including the Kanizsa triangle, are explained in terms of these concepts.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BreeseB. B. (1899) On inhibition. Psychological Monographs, 3, No. 1 (Whole No. 2).
2.
BrignerW. L., & GallagherM. B. (1974) Subjective contours: Apparent depth or simultaneous brightness contrast?Perceptual and Motor Skills, 38, 1047–1053.
CorenS., & TheodorL. H. (1975) Subjective contours: The inadequacy of brightness contrast as an explanation. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 6, 87–89.
5.
DayR. H., & JoryM. K. (1978) Subjective contours, visual acuity, and line contrast. In AtmingtonJ. C.KrauskopfJ. E., & WootenB. R. (Eds.), Visual psychophysics and physiology.New York: Academic Press. Pp. 331–340.
6.
DayR. H., & JoryM. K. (1980) A note on a second stage in the formation of illusory contours. Perception & Psychophysics, 27, 89–91.
7.
EhrensteinW. (1941) Über Abwandlungen der L. Hermannschen Helligkeitserdscheinung. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 150, 83–91.
8.
FrisbyJ. P., & ClatworthyJ. L. (1975) Illusory contours: Curious cases of simultaneous brightness contrast?Perception, 4, 349–357.
9.
GellatlyA. R. H. (1980) Perception of an illusory triangle with masked inducing figure. Perception, 9, 599–602.
10.
GregoryR. L. (1972) Cognitive contours. Nature, 238, 51–52.
11.
GrossbergS., & MmingollaE. (1985) Neural dynamics of form perception: Boundary completion, illusory figures, and neon color spreading. Psychological Review, 92, 173–211.
12.
KanizsaG. (1955) Margini quasi-percettivi in campi con stimolazione omogenea. Rivista di Psicologia, 49, 7–30.
KaufmanL. (1963) On the spread of suppression and binocular rivalry. Vision Research, 3, 401–415.
15.
KennedyJ. M. (1975) Depth at an edge, coplanarity, slant depth, change in direction and change in brightness in the production of subjective contours. Italian Journal of Psychology, 2, 107–123.
16.
KennedyJ. M. (1976) Attention, brightness, and the constructive eye. In HenleM. (Ed.), Vision and artifact.New York: Springer. Pp. 33–48.
17.
KennedyJ. M. (1978) Illusory contours and the ends of lines. Perception, 7, 605–607.
18.
KennedyJ. M. (1979) Subjective contours, contrast and assimilation. In NodineC. & FisherD. F. (Eds.), Perception and pictorial representation.New York: Praeger. Pp. 167–195.
19.
KennedyJ. M. (1988) Line endings and subjective contours. Spatial Vision, 3, 151–158.
20.
LeveltW. J. M. (1965) On binocular rivalry.Soesterberg, The Netherlands: Institute for Perception RVO-TNO.
21.
ParksT. E., & RockI. (1990) Illusory contours from pictorially three-dimensional inducing elements. Perception, 19, 119–121.
22.
PritchardW. S., & WarmJ. S. (1983) Attentional processing and the subjective contour illusion. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 112, 145–175.
23.
RockI., & AnsonR. (1979) Illusory contours as the solution to a problem. Perception, 8, 665–681.
24.
SambinM. (1987) A dynamic model of anomalous figures. In PetryS. & MeyerG. E. (Eds.), The perception of illusory contours.New York: Springer-Verlag. Pp. 131–142.
25.
SchumannF. (1900) Beiträge zur Analyse der Gesichtswahrnehmungen; Erste Abhandlung. Einige Beobachtungen über die Zusammenfassung von Gesichtseindrücken zu Einheiten. Zeitschrift für Psychologie und Physiologie der Sinnesorgane, 23, 1–32. [Contributions to the analysis of visual perception—First Paper: Some observations on the combination of visual impressions into units.] [cf. (Transl. HoggA.) (1987) In PetryS. & MeyerG. E. (Eds.), The perception of illusory contours.New YorkSpringer-Verlag. Pp. 21–34.]
26.
SohmiyaT. (1963) [Studies on effect of figure: The effects of area and brightness upon light stimulus threshold.][The Japanese Journal of Psychology], 36, 234–237.
27.
SohmiyaT. (1973) [Measurement of strength of pattern in visual field.][Proceedings of the 37th Annual Convention of the Japanese Psychological Association.] Pp. 122–123.
28.
SohmiyaT. (1974) [Measurement of strength of pattern in visual field: Explanation of distance paradox.][Proceedings of the 38th Annual Convention of the Japanese Psychological Association.] Pp. 318–319.
29.
SohmiyaT. (1976a) [Explanation of geometrical-optical illusion in terms of strength of pattern.][Proceedings of the 18th Annual Convention of the Japanese Association of Educational Psychology.] Pp. 42–43.
30.
SohmiyaT. (1976b) [Explanation of Gestalt properties in terms of synchronization of strength of pattern.][Proceedings of the 40th Annual Convention of the Japanese Psychological Association.] Pp. 449–450.
31.
SohmiyaT., & SohmiyaK. (1968) [Experimental studies on binocular rivalry by the flickering method.][Journal of the Physiological Society of Japan], 30, 943–947. [English abstract]
32.
SohmiyaT., & SohmiyaK. (1976) [Fundamental study on pattern recognition by a new experimental method.]Nagoya: Maruzen. [English abstract]
33.
SohmiyaT., & SohmiyaK. (1985) Method for measuring strength of suppression in binocular rivalry. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 61, 843–846.
34.
SohmiyaT., & SohmiyaK. (1986) Periodicity of strength of pattern in binocular rivalry. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 62, 943–950.
35.
SohmiyaT., & SohmiyaK. (1995) Effects of vibrating movement on geometrical illusion and illusory contours. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 81, 189–190.
36.
SpillmannL. (1975) Perceptual modification of the Ehrenstein illusion. In ErtelS.KemmlerL., & StadlerM. (Eds.), Gestalt Theorie in der modernnen PsychologicDarmstadt: Steinkopf. Pp. 210–218.
37.
SpillmannL.FuldK., & GerritsH. J. M. (1976) Brightness contrast in the Ehrenstein illusion. Vision Research, 16, 713–719.
