Abstract
This article develops the FACADE theory of three-dimensional (3-D) vision to simulate data concerning how two-dimensional pictures give rise to 3-D percepts of occluded and occluding surfaces. The theory suggests how geometrical and contrastive properties of an image can either cooperate or compete when forming the boundary and surface representations that subserve conscious visual percepts. Spatially long-range cooperation and short-range competition work together to separate boundaries of occluding figures from their occluded neighbors, thereby providing sensitivity to T-junctions without the need to assume that T-junction “detectors” exist. Both boundary and surface representations of occluded objects may be amodally completed, whereas the surface representations of unoccluded objects become visible through modal processes. Computer simulations include Bregman-Kanizsa figure-ground separation, Kanizsa stratification, and various lightness percepts, including the Münker-White, Benary cross, and checkerboard percepts.
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F.K. was supported in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research (ONR N00014-95-1-0409), the National Science Foundation (NSF IR1 94-01659), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR N00014-92-J-1309 and ONR N00014-95-1-0657). S.G. was supported in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research (ONR N00014-95-1-0409), the National Science Foundation (NSF IRI97-20333), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR N00014-95-1-0657).
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Kelly, F., Grossberg, S. Neural dynamics of 3-D surface perception: Figure-ground separation and lightness perception. Perception & Psychophysics 62, 1596–1618 (2000). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212158
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212158