Unmasking the standing wave of invisibility: an account in terms of object-mediated representational updating

Elisabeth Hein; Cathleen M Moore

doi:10.3758/APP.72.2.398

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Unmasking the standing wave of invisibility: an account in terms of object-mediated representational updating

Journal article

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Unmasking the standing wave of invisibility: an account in terms of object-mediated representational updating

Elisabeth Hein and Cathleen M Moore

Attention, perception & psychophysics, Vol.72(2), pp.398-408

02/2010

DOI: 10.3758/APP.72.2.398

PMCID: PMC6999818

PMID: 20139455

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Abstract

A central bar presented in counterphase with two flanking bars creates the perception of only two bars, instead of three, flickering (standing wave of invisibility illusion). Current explanations of this illusion highlight the importance of local interactions between the central bar and the flankers as a reason for the invisibility of the central bar. In three experiments, we show that the reduction in visibility of the central bar occurs even when the flankers are spatially separated from the central bar. Thus local mechanisms-low-level lateral inhibition or border-ownership competition-do not suffice to account for the decreased visibility. Furthermore, the reduced visibility of the central bar is accompanied by the perception of the flankers in apparent motion at all separations. We suggest an account of the standing wave phenomenon in terms of object updating: The representation of the central bar is updated with the representation of the flankers leaving the perception of just the flankers moving across space. The stimuli for the key conditions from this study, in QuickTime format, may be down loaded from http://app.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.

Perceptual Closure

Perceptual Masking

Awareness

Humans

Attention

Space Perception

Pattern Recognition, Visual

Orientation

Psychophysics

Motion Perception

Optical Illusions

Details

Title: Subtitle: Unmasking the standing wave of invisibility: an account in terms of object-mediated representational updating
Creators: Elisabeth Hein - University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. elisabeth-hein@uiowa.edu
Cathleen M Moore
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Attention, perception & psychophysics, Vol.72(2), pp.398-408
DOI: 10.3758/APP.72.2.398
PMID: 20139455
PMCID: PMC6999818
NLM abbreviation: Atten Percept Psychophys
ISSN: 1943-3921
eISSN: 1943-393X
Publisher: United States
Grant note: R01 MH067793 / NIMH NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 02/2010
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences; Injury Prevention Research Center
Record Identifier: 9984001104902771

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