The Importance of Being Convex: An Advantage for Convexity when Judging Position

Abstract

Perception of contour polarity was investigated in five experiments in which observers had to judge the vertical position of a vertex. When the vertex was perceived as convex, the level of performance as measured by reaction time and errors was higher than when the same vertex was perceived as concave. I conclude that contour polarity affects how observers perceive shape, and in particular part structure, and that the position of a part is more readily available than the position of a boundary between parts.