The effect of contrast on the Zöllner illusion

Abstract An experiment is described in which the size of the Zollner illusion is measured as a function of the contrast of the background lines which produce the distortion. The results show that, over the range tested, the illusion is linearly related to the logarithm of the contrast. The paper brings together the results of several previous experiments relating to grating visibility and electrophysiological response as functions of contrast, and in a simple model shows their relation to the present data. The present results may indicate that the Zollner illusion is produced by interactions between simple cells in the human visual cortex.

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