Visual illusions [Elektronische Ressource] : perception of luminance, color, and motion in humans / vorgelegt von Kai Hamburger

Sujets

• Psychologie

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• Publié par: justus-liebig-universitat_giessen
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 17
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 10 Mo

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VISUAL ILLUSIONS:
PERCEPTION OF LUMINANCE, COLOR, AND MOTION IN
HUMANS



Inaugural-Dissertation
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades
Doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.)

an der





Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen
Fachbereich 06:
Psychologie und Sportwissenschaften
Otto-Behaghel-Strasse 10F
35394 Giessen











vorgelegt am 21. Dezember 2006

von

Dipl. Psych. Kai Hamburger
geboren am 5. Juni 1977
in Gedern





















1. Berichterstatter und Betreuer
Prof. Karl R. Gegenfurtner, Ph.D. (Psychologie, Giessen)

2. Berichterstatter
Prof. Dr. Hans Irtel (Psychologie, Mannheim)









To my grandfather Heinrich,
my parents Elke and Rainer,
my brother Sven,
and
to my fiancée Sandra.
Acknowledgement
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my godfather in the graduate program,
Professor Karl R. Gegenfurtner (Giessen, Germany), and my two other supervisors,
Professor Lothar Spillmann (Freiburg, Germany) and Professor Arthur G. Shapiro
(Lewisburg, PA, U.S.A.).
Karl, on very short notice you gave me the opportunity to join the graduate
program ‘Neural Representation and Action Control – Neuroact’ and by doing so one of
the best departments in the field of Vision Sciences. I became a member of an
extraordinary lab, which still excites me. You allowed me to finish projects which were
already in progress when I started in Giessen and you gave me plenty of rope to pursue
my own interests. Thus, I was able to publish efficiently and furthermore gained deep
insights into the field of Vision Sciences and even beyond. This was the best mentoring a
natural scientist could think of. Thank you.
Professor Spillmann, you paved my way into the Vision Sciences. At the
beginning of my scientific career you gave me the opportunity to join your famous
‘Freiburg Psychophysics Laboratory’. There, I was working on many fascinating and
challenging projects. Furthermore, I could work with scientists from all around the world
and establish precious connections. Throughout my doctoral student period you
supported me as much as possible. Even after I moved from Freiburg, you continued to
support me, no matter where on earth you had been. Thank you.
Arthur, you gave me the opportunity to work with a great ‘Illusionist’ as well as
to obtain experience in a foreign country for an extended period of time. From the
beginning of my stay, you treated me like a family member. I had a wonderful and
productive time at Bucknell University. Zelda’s was our favorite and most fruitful place.
I never thought that science could have this other side. Thank you.
Professor Svein Magnussen (Oslo/Norway) offered me to take part in one of his
projects. I gave my best. Professor Viktor Sarris (Frankfurt, Germany), PD Dr. Helmut
Prior (Frankfurt, Germany), and Dr. Herbert Götzl (Bochum, Germany) supported certain
projects as co-authors. Thank you. I also would like to thank all the anonymous reviewers
who helped me improving my manuscripts with their critical questions and comments.
I would also like to thank my fellow PhD students for their physical and mental
support: Dr. Tobias Otte (Freiburg/Frankfurt, Germany), Cathi Hindi Attar
(Freiburg/Leipzig, Germany), Simone Gori (Freiburg, Germany/Padua, Italy) and my
Giessen office Room 307, namely Jutta Billino, Constanze Hesse – does anyone have
chocolate? –, Lukas Kaim, and my former colleague Dr. Denise D.J. deGrave (Giessen,
Germany/Amsterdam, Netherlands). I also thank Dr. Christoph Rasche from the office
next door.
iv For advice on the different manuscripts I would like to thank Professors Peter
DeWeerd, Frank Durgin, Sir Richard L. Gregory, Stephen Grossberg, William S. Huff,
Sergio C. Masin, Heiko Neumann, Hans-Christoph Nothdurft, Sriman R. Tripathy,
Christopher W. Tyler, John S. Werner, as well as Doctors Cornelia Fermüller and
Thomas Meigen (Freiburg). Thank you.
I thank Professor Frank Bremmer (Marburg) as speaker of the Giessen/Marburg
graduate program and the German Research Concil (NeuroAct 885/1) for its support.
Biology students Florian Brüning, Andreas Mader, and Florian Leinenkugel
(Freiburg, Germany) completed an internship under my supervision. They helped with
data collection. Psychology student Anke Haberkamp (Giessen, Germany) also helped
collecting data for a preliminary experiment. Thank you.

My grandfather Heinrich Gleiß IV. implicitly lead me to the Vision Sciences. As
a blind man he taught me to appreciate this astounding ability of vision and many more
things. I am very thankful and I miss you.
I am very much indepted to my parents, Elke und Rainer Hamburger, who
supported me throughout my life without thinking about their own benefit. I thank you
and I love you.
Sven Hamburger, my older brother and sometimes my bad consciousness, gave
me moral support, since he always pretends not to know what I am working on.
Last but not least, I would like to say a heartily thank you to my fiancée Sandra.
You put back your own interests in order to support me. You showed great tolerance for
my long working hours and assisted me in any possible way. I hope I get a chance to give
back at least a little bit. Thank you and I love you.
v Zusammenfassung
In den vergangenen Jahrhunderten haben Studien mit und über visuelle Illusionen zu
einem besseren Verständnis des menschlichen visuellen Systems beigetragen. Ziel dieser
Dissertation ist es nun, einen Beitrag zu diesem Forschungsgebiet mittels visueller
Illusionen als Untersuchungsgegenstand zu leisten. In mehreren psychophysischen
Experimenten und qualitativen Herangehensweisen habe ich versucht, dieses Ziel zu
erreichen. Da es sich bei dem menschlichen visuellen System um ein überaus komplexes
System handelt, dessen Verarbeitungsmechanismen sehr stark vernetzt und interaktiv
sind, konzentriere ich mich in meiner Arbeit nicht ausschließlich auf ein einzelnes
Forschungsgebiet bei visuellen Illusionen, sondern untersuche eine ganze Serie von
Täuschungsphänomenen. Die vorliegende Dissertation ist in drei Hauptteile untergliedert:
1. Assimilationsphänomene und Filling-in (perzeptuelle Einfüllung); 2. geometrisch-
optische Illusionen, Helligkeitsillusionen und Farbtäuschungen (diese werden unter
Bedingungen mit Helligkeitskontrast und Isoluminanz – Helligkeitsgleichheit – mit
chromatischem Kontrast untersucht); 3. Scheinbewegung in statischen Mustern. Diese
Untersuchungen erweitern unser Wissen über verschiedenste
Verarbeitungsmechanismen, beginnend bei den niedrigen Verarbeitungsstufen (Retina)
bis hin zu den höheren Arealen im visuellen Kortex (V5/MT, MST). Die
Untersuchungsergebnisse werden im Kontext aktueller Forschungsarbeiten im Bereich
der Sehforschung interpretiert und diskutiert. Darüber hinaus präsentiere ich neuartige
visuelle Phänomene (Illusionen), welche einen wertvollen Beitrag für zukünftige
Forschung in den Bereichen Psychophysik, Physiologie und bildgebenden Verfahren zur
Erforschung des Gehirns leisten können.
vi Abstract
Over the past centuries studies on visual illusions have provided us with a better
understanding of the human visual system. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to this
research field by utilizing visual illusions as research tools. In several psychophysical
experiments and qualitative approaches I try to realize this aim. Since the human visual
system is complex and processing mechanisms are highly interactive in networks, I will
not focus on a single field but rather investigate a whole series of visual illusions. The
thesis is divided into three major threads: 1. phenomena of fading and filling-in; 2.
geometric-optical illusions, luminance illusions, and color illusions at conditions of
luminance contrast and isoluminance with chromatic contrast; 3. apparent motion
illusions. These studies expand our knowledge on various processing mechanisms from
low-level (retina) to higher-levels of the visual cortex (V5/MT, MST). The results of the
studies are interpreted and discussed within the context of current research work in the
field of Vision Sciences. Furthermore, I present some new visual (illusory) phenomena,
which could serve as valuable tools for future research in psychophysical, physiological,
or brain imaging studies.

vii Contents

I ntroduction 1

I Resarch work 9

Part 1 –
Assimilation and filling-in 9
Chapter 1 – Color assimilation as a grouping factor 9
Chapter 2 – Filling-in with color: different modes of surface completion 25
Chapter 3 – Perceptual filling-in from the edge of the blind spot 53
Chapter 4 – Filling-in with texture: uniform vs. random orientation 70

Part 2 –
Visual illusions at luminance contrast and isoluminance 103
Chapter 5 – Geomet