Visual illusory productions with or without amodal completion

Abstract

A new type of illusory contour is presented whose appearance is generated by the graphic representation of groups of human figures interacting in a coordinated manner with external reality. When numerous pictorial indicators of cause-effect relationships are provided, and appropriate techniques and sufficiently ambiguous observation conditions are used, hallucinatory objects congruent with expectations linked to the meaning of the configurations appear. There is thus a high-level semantic component that is active in the formation of visual illusory contours and is even capable of interacting with other known factors: brightness contrast, the number of elements, the degree of alignment of the elements, etc. This new type of illusory contour fits current definitions and can be experimentally modified. The variations in subjective clarity scores are presented for a study in which twenty subjects observed nineteen experimental figures, certain variables of which were manipulated. The issue is worthy of further experimental investigation.