No evidence for surface organization in Kanizsa configurations during continuous flash suppression

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Visual Perception
• Psychology

Background:

• The relationship between Gestalt principles and visual awareness is not fully understood.
• Conflicting evidence exists on whether Kanizsa surfaces form during interocular suppression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if perceptual organization of Kanizsa stimuli occurs without visual awareness.
• To determine if Gestalt figure-ground assignment is constructed during interocular suppression.

Main Methods:

• Replication of previous findings on Kanizsa stimuli breakthrough times during interocular suppression.
• Analysis of stimulus properties, including Fourier orientation spectra, to explain breakthrough time differences.

Main Results:

• Previous findings on Kanizsa stimuli breakthrough times were replicated.
• Neither surface construction nor long-range collinearities fully explained the observed differences in breakthrough times.
• No evidence was found for the integration of elements during interocular suppression of Kanizsa stimuli.

Conclusions:

• Gestalt figure-ground assignment is not constructed when Kanizsa stimuli are rendered non-conscious via interocular suppression.
• Visual awareness is likely necessary for the construction of this type of Gestalt perception.