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Attentional processing and the subjective contour illusion.

W S Pritchard, J S Warm

    Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
    |June 1, 1983
    PubMed
    Summary
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    Subjective contour (SC) perception requires more attention than real contour perception, suggesting a top-down processing model. This finding impacts theories of visual information processing.

    Area of Science:

    • Cognitive Psychology
    • Visual Perception

    Background:

    • Leading explanations for subjective contour (SC) illusion fall into bottom-up (physiological) or top-down (psychological) categories.
    • Bottom-up processing is largely automatic, while top-down processing involves selective attention.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To differentiate between bottom-up and top-down accounts of SC perception.
    • To assess the relative attentional demands of real versus SC perception.

    Main Methods:

    • A dual-task paradigm was employed, comparing speeded same-different discriminations of SCs and real contours.
    • A secondary short-term memory load task was introduced to measure attentional demands.

    Main Results:

    • An increased reaction time (RT) increment for SCs compared to real contours was observed only on 'same' trials when a memory load was added.

    Related Experiment Videos

  • This suggests that SC perception is more attention-demanding than real contour perception.

    • Conclusions:

    • The findings support the notion that SC perception is attention-demanding and aligns with top-down processing models.
    • Future theories of SC perception should consider conceptually driven visual information processing.