September 2018
Volume 18, Issue 10
Open Access
Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting Abstract  |   September 2018
Revealing the mechanisms underlying inner-outer asymmetry and visual crowding
Author Affiliations
  • Jun-Yun Zhang
    School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University
  • Gong-Liang Zhang
    Department of Psychology, SooChow University
  • Cong Yu
    School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University
Journal of Vision September 2018, Vol.18, 853. doi:https://doi.org/10.1167/18.10.853
  • Views
  • Share
  • Tools
    • Alerts
      ×
      This feature is available to authenticated users only.
      Sign In or Create an Account ×
    • Get Citation

      Jun-Yun Zhang, Gong-Liang Zhang, Cong Yu; Revealing the mechanisms underlying inner-outer asymmetry and visual crowding. Journal of Vision 2018;18(10):853. https://doi.org/10.1167/18.10.853.

      Download citation file:


      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

      ×
  • Supplements
Abstract

The outer flanker induces stronger crowding than does the inner flanker (Bouma, 1973). This classical yet unsolved mystery is considered a hallmark property of visual crowding. Here we tested a hypothesis that the roles of different crowding mechanisms may be responsible for the asymmetric crowding effects by inner and outer flankers. Observers reported a Sloan-letter target (7.5° eccentricity) that was flanked by either an inner or outer Sloan letter along the horizontal meridian. Crowding was quantified by threshold changes or critical spacing. Results: (1) When the target and flanker were randomly drawn from the same 5 Sloan letters, crowding was strongly asymmetric (baseline-normalized thresholds with an outer/inner flanker = 1.75/1.18); (2) When the target and flanker were each drawn from a separate 5-letter group and the observers were shown with a printed target list, to avoid stimulus confusion in visual memory, the corresponding thresholds changed to 1.57/1.14; (3) When the flankers were 10x10 scrambled, as well as replaced by same-sized black squares, to remove stimulus features, the corresponding thresholds further reduced to 1.19/1.14. (4) The Bouma factors with an outer flanker were 0.37, 0.26, and 0.13 in conditions 1-3, respectively. (5) When a flanker was placed above/below the target (tangential arrangement), the thresholds were unchanged (1.08-1.12) across conditions 1-3, and similar to unchanged thresholds with an inner flanker. Our results suggest: First, outer-flanker crowding consists of target-flanker confusion in visual short-term memory (grouping effect in 1-2), feature confusion (feature scrambling effect in 2-3), and lateral masking (3), while inner-flanker crowding includes lateral masking only. This difference explains inner-outer crowding asymmetry. Second, the Bouma factor can be divided into three components, each reflecting the effect of one crowding mechanism. Third, top/bottom-flanker crowding, like inner-flanker crowding, is caused by lateral masking and significantly weaker than outer-flanker crowding, which explains radial-tangential crowding asymmetry.

Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2018

×
×

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

Sign in or purchase a subscription to access this content. ×

You must be signed into an individual account to use this feature.

×