Visual orientation illusions: global mechanisms involved in hierarchical effects and frames of reference.

Full Abstract

Five experiments were conducted in order to determine which of two hypotheses, initially proposed by Rock (1990), accounts for interactions between oriented elements in a visual scene. We also explored the suggestion that two hypothetical processes--namely, frame of reference and hierarchical organization--describe phenomena arising from distinct mechanisms (Spinelli, Antonucci, Daini, Martelli, & Zoccolotti, 1999). Double inducing stimulus versions of one-dimensional and two-dimensional tilt illusions, the rod-and-frame illusion, and combinations of these were used. Our data suggest that both hypotheses can predict orientation interactions in conditions in which only one mechanism--namely, the global visual mechanism of symmetry axes extraction (Wenderoth & Beh, 1977)--is activated. Which hypothesis is appropriate to predict the perceived orientation depends on some physical features of the objects.

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Author information

Author/s: Daini, Roberta (R); Wenderoth, Peter (P); Smith, Stuart (S);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy. roberta.daini(-atsign-)unimib.it

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Perception & psychophysics (Percept Psychophys), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Jul; vol 65 (issue 5) : pp 770-8

Dates: Created 2003/09/05; Completed 2003/10/10; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12956584, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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