A common mechanism for illusory and occluded object completion.

Abstract

New phenomena and results are reported that implicate a common contour interpolation mechanism in illusory and occluded (modal and amodal) object completion. In 3 experiments, a speeded classification task was used to study novel quasimodal displays in which occluded and illusory contours join. Results showed the same advantages in speed and accuracy over control displays for quasimodal, illusory, and occluded displays. The implications of quasimodal displays, along with another new display type in which contour linkages must precede determination of modal or amodal appearance, are considered. These logical considerations and empirical results suggest that amodal and modal completion depend on a common underlying mechanism that connects edges across gaps.