Illusory contours from inducers defined solely by spatiotemporal correlation

Abstract

Vivid and perceptually salient subjective contours are perceived when inducing (two-dimensional) objects that move and change form so as to "simulate" the presence of an occluding shape are defined solely by (the differences in) temporal correlation in random-dot cinematograms. These effects suggest that subjective contours are due to mechanisms not directly tied to a single source of sensory information, and challenge accounts based on low-level brightness-domain computations. © 1986 Psychonomic Society, Inc.