Perceptual grouping without awareness: Collinear contour facilitation or surface filling-in? P Moors, S van Crombruggen, J Wagemans, R van Ee, L De-Wit |
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Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium
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| A regular, grouped Kanizsa triangle has been shown to break through interocular suppression faster than an ungrouped, random Kanizsa triangle [Wang et al., 2012, PLoS ONE, 7(6): e40106]. In an earlier neuropsychological study Conci et al. [2009, Neuropsychologia, 47, 726-732] showed that low-level collinear contour facilitation and high-level surface filling-in both contribute separately to a reduction in extinction in patients with visual neglect when viewing Kanizsa stimuli. Since Wang et al. (2012) did not include control conditions similar to Conci et al. (2009), it is not clear whether the Kanizsa triangle broke through suppression due to collinear contour facilitation or higher-level surface completion mechanisms [Kogo et al., 2010, Psychological Review, 117(2), 406-439]. In this study, we tested whether a Kanizsa square would break through interocular suppression faster than a random Kanizsa square while controlling for collinear contour facilitation. Our results suggest that collinear contour facilitation contributes to the benefit of a grouped Kanizsa square breaking through suppression compared to an ungrouped Kanizsa square. Since the percept of an illusory figure is presumably gradually built up along the ventral stream, our results tap into the debate to what extent interocular suppression diminishes processing along the ventral stream. |
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