Visual texture segmentation in cats

The segmentation of visual images on the basis of textural discontinuity was studied in cats using two behavioural paradigms. The first task (Experiment 1) required the animals to detect the presence of a target square of one texture embedded in a background of a second texture. The second task (Experiment 2) required the cats to discriminate between two forms (square and triangle) both of which were defined by texture-texture boundaries. Both detection and discrimination tasks were presented in a transfer paradigm in which the animals first learned a luminance-based form of the same problem. The results indicate that cats are able to segment a visual array on the basis of textural discontinuity in the absence of global luminance differences between figure and ground, and that they are able to use the contour information provided by texture-texture boundaries as a basis for form discrimination.

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