Abstract
Integrating local edges into spatially extended contours is a fundamental step in perceptual organization. This process of contour integration is known to depend on the local alignment and relative spacing of adjacent contour elements. To investigate how the global curvature polarity of a contour influences contour integration in the visual periphery, we embedded circular arc contours in Gabor displays. The contours could appear at three different eccentricities and were either convex or concave with respect to the central fixation position. Participants were instructed to indicate whether the contour appeared in the right or in the left half of the display. At all three eccentricities participants were faster at detecting the convex contours compared to the concave contours. We offer a possible explanation of this convexity bias in terms of natural input statistics.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2013