Figure-ground perception

From neurov.is/on

Contents 1 Geometric cues 2 Depth cues 3 Non-geometric cues 4 Cited References 5 All References 6 Referenced Authors

[edit] Geometric cues

Some of the classical factors that make it more likely for an object to appear in the foreground include:

• Convexity
• Symmetry
• Smaller area
• Enclosure

Peterson and Salvagio ^[1] have shown that the contribution of convexity varies by context.

Some of the geometric factors that have been discovered more recently and influence the classification of an object as being foreground:

• Regions with a wider base are more likely be classified as the occluding object ^[2].
• If two regions are separated by horizontal line, the lower region is more likly be classified as the figure ^[3].
• A region protruding into another region is more likely to be seen as the occluding figure ^[4].

[edit] Depth cues

Depth cues can also increase the likelihood of interpreting the region as the occluding figure. For the interplay between depth cues and geometric cues see ^{[5] [6] [7]}.

[edit] Non-geometric cues

Some of the non-geometric factors include:

• Spatial frequency
• Extremal edges
• Watercolor effect

[edit] Cited References

1. ↑ Peterson, M. A.; Salvagio, E. (2008). "Inhibitory competition in figure-ground perception: Context and convexity". Journal of Vision 8(16):4: 1-13. 
2. ↑ Hulleman, J.; Humphreys, G.W. (2004). "A new cue to figure-ground coding: top-bottom polarity". Vision Research 44: 2779-2791. 
3. ↑ Vecera, S.P.; Vogel, E.K.; Woodman, G.F. (2002). "Lower Region: A New Cue for Figure-Ground Assignment". Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 13: 194-205. 
4. ↑ Hoffman, D. D.; Singh, M. (1997). "Salience of visual parts". Cognition 63: 29-78. 
5. ↑ Bertamini, M.; Martinovic, J.; Wuerger, S. M. (2008). "Integration of ordinal and metric cues in depth processing.". Journal of Vision 8: 1-12. 
6. ↑ Burge, J.; Peterson, M.A.; Palmer, S.E. (2005). "Ordinal configural cues combine with metric disparity in depth perception". Journal of Vision 5: 534-542. 
7. ↑ Peterson, M. A.; Gibson, B. S. (1993). "Shape recognition contributions to figure-ground organization in three-dimensional displays". Cognitive Psychology 25: 383-429. 

[edit] All References

• Lamme 1995
• Peterson Salvagio 2009
• Qiu Sugihara 2007
• Qiu von der Heydt 2005
• O'Reilly Vecera 1998
• Vecera Vogel Woodman 2002
• Pinna Werner Spillman 2003
• Peterson Skow 2008
• Peterson Salvagio 2008
• Peterson Harvey Weidenbacher 1991
• Peterson Lampignano 2003
• Peterson Gibson 1993
• Peterson 1994
• Palmer Ghose 2008
• O’Reilly Vecera 1998
• Klymenko Weisstein 1986
• Kienker Sejnowski Hinton 1986
• Kelly Grossberg 2000
• Kanizsa Gerbino 1976
• Hulleman Humphreys 2004
• Grossberg 1994
• Burge Peterson Palmer 2005
• Bertamini Martinovic Wuerger 2008
• Baylis Driver 1995
• Fowlkes Martin Malik 2007
• Peterson Gibson 1994
• O'Herron von der Heydt 2009
• Niebur 2009
• Zhou 2000
• Craft 2007
• Kim Feldman 2009

[edit] Referenced Authors

• Rüdiger von der Heydt

Scholarpedia has an article on Figure-ground perception.