Relation between Contour Integration and Figure-Ground Separation

Abstract

This study focuses on the relation between contour integration process and figure-ground process, both of them are fundamental functions of the visual system in the human brain. We executed a set of psychological experiments using stimuli with small triangles which have the attribute of figure. We obtained the results that contour saliency is elevated when triangles are aligned so that edges of them are on a smooth contour and figural side of those edges are identical against the smooth contour. Those results indicate that the processes of contour integration and figure-ground separation are not one-way cascade manner, but the reciprocal and interactive one.