Summary
Evidence is presented that the degree of simultaneous contrast produced by the bisecting line in the Koffka ring is greatly lessened by varying the perceived depth interval between this line and the Koffka figure. The retinal disparity between the line and the figure was varied to produce this effect. The slight lateral displacements of the bisecting line in the monocular images themselves necessary to produce retinal disparity with binocular viewing had no effect on the magnitude of simultaneous contrast. Interpretations based on processes operating at the retinal level such as lateral inhibition level are not supported by this finding. The results are interpreted in terms of the adjacency principle.
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This research was supported by National Institutes of Health Research Grant No. 00268 to the first author. Thanks are due to Donald Mershon and Walter Gogel for their helpful comments and criticisms of an earlier version of this paper.
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Wist, E.R., Susen, P. Evidence for the role of post-retinal processes in simultaneous contrast. Psychol. Forsch. 36, 1–12 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00424650
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00424650