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Updated: Jun 2, 2026
05:10
Measuring the Behavioral Effects of Intraocular Scatter
Published on: February 18, 2021
Grouping by Regularity and the perception of illumination
Martin van den Berg1, Michael Kubovy, James A Schirillo
1Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
Vision Research
|May 10, 2011
Summary
The visual system uses Grouping by Regularity, not Similarity, to organize surfaces with varying lightness under complex lighting. This principle, influenced by illuminant periodicity, operates before lightness constancy is established.
Area of Science:
- Visual perception
- Cognitive psychology
- Computational neuroscience
Background:
- The visual system must perceive surface properties like lightness despite varying illumination.
- Traditional theories focus on Grouping by Similarity for perceptual organization.
- Existing models struggle to explain how complex lighting affects lightness perception.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the visual system groups surfaces of unequal lightness under complex illumination.
- To compare the explanatory power of Grouping by Regularity versus Grouping by Similarity.
- To determine the role of illuminant properties in perceptual organization.
Main Methods:
- Experimental manipulation of illumination gradients and periodicity.
- Perceptual organization tasks pitting proximity against illumination.
- Analysis of grouping effects based on local luminance ratios versus reflectance ratios.
Main Results:
- Discounting the illuminant was contingent upon the periodicity of the illuminant.
- Grouping was more influenced by local luminance ratios than constant reflectance ratios.
- Findings challenge traditional theories of lightness constancy.
Conclusions:
- Grouping by Regularity is a key principle in visual perception.
- This principle operates at a pre-constancy stage, influencing how we perceive lightness.
- Illuminant periodicity significantly impacts perceptual organization of surfaces.
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