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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning
Published on: November 2, 2012
From perceptive fields to Gestalt
1Dept. of Neurology, Neurozentrum, University Hospital, Breisacher Strasse 64, 79106 Freiburg, Germany. lothar.spillmann@zfn-brain.uni-freiburg.de
Abstract:
Studies on visual psychophysics and perception conducted in the Freiburg psychophysics laboratory during the last 35 years are reviewed. Many of these were inspired by single-cell neurophysiology in cat and monkey. The aim was to correlate perceptual phenomena and their effects to possible neuronal mechanisms from retina to visual cortex and beyond. Topics discussed include perceptive field organization, figure-ground segregation and grouping, fading and filling-in, and long-range color interaction. While some of these studies succeeded in linking perception to neuronal response patterns, others require further investigation. The task of probing the human brain with perceptual phenomena continues to be a challenge for the future.
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