Figure-Ground Organization in Different Phases of the Perceptual Alternation Phenomenon

Abstract

Two experiments on figure-ground organization were designed to examine whether the regions of an ambiguous stimulus perceived as “figure” vary as a function of regional area and experience with the stimulus. In Exp. 1 the perceived duration of each interpretation was recorded during continuous viewing for 10 subjects who had been trained until both percepts appeared with statistical regularity (stationary phase). In Exp. 2 the first interpretation reported by 172 naive observers after a few seconds of pattern exposure was recorded. The well-known tendency to interpret smaller regions as figure was noted in Exp. 2 whereas the results of Exp. 1 suggested equiprobability of the percepts. Over-all results suggest that alternation is learned during the transient or “early” phase of perception, with some stimulus features and cultural factors influencing the figure-ground organization. During the stationary or late phase of perception the subject is well practiced and the alternating of interpretations becomes largely automatic.