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Subjective contours.

Kanizsa, Gaetano·1976·Scientific American

DOI 10.1038/scientificamerican0476-48

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“That is, certain perceptual phenomena are left unaccounted for by scanpaths, including perception of illusory images such as the Kanizsa (1976) figure or the Necker (1832) cube.”
Background
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“Kanizsa subjective ®gures (Kanizsa, 1976) provide one interesting stimulus for addressing this issue.”
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“One method of investigating these processes involves illusory contour (IC) stimuli (Kanizsa, 1976), wherein subjects perceive an object’s borders in the absence of luminance discontinuities.”
Method
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Ullman, S. (1976) · Biological Cybernetics · doi:10.1007/bf00337043 · Cited by 272
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“The facilitation we observed in at least one-quarter of Area 17 simple cells in anaesthetized cat is a likely mechanism for the response to subjective contours (Kanizsa 1976) reported by v o n d e r Heydt et al.”
Background
High-frequency brain activity: Its possible role in attention, perception and language processing
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“Kanizsa (1976)-type stimuli were used to manipulate the degree of perceptual organization via illusory contour formation present among elements in the stimulus array, while changing the overall arrangement of the individual elements only minimally.”
Filling-in in Schizophrenia: a High-density Electrical Mapping and Source-analysis Investigation of Illusory Contour Processing
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“Subjects were instructed to centrally fixate an array of Kanizsa-type (Kanizsa, 1976) 'pacmen' inducers that were oriented in one of two manners to either form or not form an illusory shape ('IC present' and 'IC absent' conditions; see Fig.”
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Laminar fMRI: applications for cognitive neuroscience
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“For example, in the Kanizsa visual illusion (Kanizsa, 1976), selective activation of the deep layers of visual cortex, coupled with down-regulation of responses to the shape inducers, is sufficient to induce an illusory visual percept (Kok et al.”
BackgroundInfluential
Bright illusions reduce the eye's pupil
Laeng, B., & Endestad, T. (2012) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1118298109 · Cited by 184
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“…a high denotative region is separated from a low denotative region by a contour that is not physically present—an illusory or subjective contour (Kanizsa, 1976; Schumann, 1987), like that shown in Figure 5a. Subjective contour stimuli are an interesting case because Rock (1983) claimed that…”
Background
Gamma‐range Activity Evoked by Coherent Visual Stimuli in Humans
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“Disrupted visual perceptual congruence in autistics is illustrated by a study (Brown 2005) in which test subjects were presented with a visual shape illusion (i.e., Kanizsa figure, see Kanizsa 1976).”
Method
Retinotopic activation in response to subjective contours in primary visual cortex
Maertens, M. (2008) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/neuro.09.002.2008 · Cited by 155
“1 April 2008 | Volume 2 | Article 2 | www.frontiersin.org Retinotopic activation in response to subjective contours in primary visual cortex Marianne Maertens1,*, Stefan Pollmann1, Michael Hanke1, Toralf Mildner2 and Harald Möller2”
Background
Emotion and dance in dynamic light displays
Walk, R. D., & Homan, C. P. (1984) · Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society · doi:10.3758/bf03333870 · Cited by 155
“Silence can add tension to auditory beats , consonants to speech (Morse, Eilers, & Gavin, 1982), or contours to shapes, as in "subj~ctive contour" (Kanizsa, 1976) .”
Background
Oscillatory synchrony and human visual cognition
Tallon‐Baudry, C. (2003) · Journal of Physiology-Paris · doi:10.1016/j.jphysparis.2003.09.009 · Cited by 145
“In a discrimination task, we compared the responses to coherent stimuli (illusory and real triangles) with the responses to a non-coherent stimulus, a Kanizsa triangle [23] in which the inducing pac-men had been rotated to suppress the illusion [10]: a larger induced gamma response was observed over occipital electrod…”
Anatomy and physiology of the afferent visual system
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“Mechanisms of perceptual constancy impose this pattern, with neural firing that supports the coherent perception (Kanizsa, 1976).”
Background
Capture of stereopsis and apparent motion by illusory contours
Ramachandran, V. S. (1986) · Perception & Psychophysics · doi:10.3758/bf03203005 · Cited by 134
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Functional neuroimaging findings on the human perception of illusory contours
Seghier, M. L., & Vuilleumier, P. O. (2006) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2005.11.002 · Cited by 135
“Several of these theoretical models (Bradley and Dumais, 1975; Coren, 1972; Ginsburg, 1975; Gregory, 1972; Halpern, 1981; Kanizsa, 1976; Parks, 1989; Rock and Anson, 1979; Smith and Over, 1975; Watanabe and Oyama, 1988) have attempted to elucidate the mystery of 'human perception of illusory…”
Background
A Survey of Electronic Techniques for Pictorial Image Reproduction
Stoffel, J. C., & Moreland, J. (1981) · IRE Transactions on Communications Systems · doi:10.1109/tcom.1981.1094946 · Cited by 127
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Volume Completion
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Neurocognitive biases and the patterns of spontaneous correlations in the human cortex
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Boundary Completion Is Automatic and Dissociable from Shape Discrimination
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“For each trial, an array of four Kanizsa-type (Kanizsa, 1976) “pacman” inducers was presented on a computer monitor (Eizo Flexscan 930; 1280 1024 pixel resolution) located 75 cm away from the subject.”
Method
Magnetoencephalographic responses to illusory figures: early evoked gamma is affected by processing of stimulus features
Herrmann, C. S., & Mecklinger, A. (2000) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/s0167-8760(00)00170-7 · Cited by 119
Neuronal responses to borders with and without luminance gradients in cat visual cortex and dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus
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Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Modulates Evoked-Gamma Frequency Oscillations in Autism Spectrum Disorder
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“Kanizsa illusory figures (Kanizsa, 1976) have been shown to readily produce gamma oscillations during visual cognitive tasks (Hermann, Mecklinger, & Pfeifer, 1999; Tallon-Baundry, Bertrand, Delpuech, & Pernier, 1996): Kanizsa stimuli consist of inducer disks of a shape feature and either constitute…”
Background
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“In a related task, individual elements (“inducers”) can be used to create illusory contours and shapes, such as those described by Kanizsa (1976).”
Repetitive transcanial magnetic stimulation (RTMS) modulates event-related potential (ERP) indices of attention in autism
Casanova, M. F., Baruth, J. M., El-Baz, A. S., Tasman, A., Sears, L. L., & Sokhadze, E. M. (2012) · Translational Neuroscience · doi:10.2478/s13380-012-0022-0 · Cited by 111
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“The stimuli employed in the test were Kanizsa square (target), Kanizsa triangle (non-target), non-Kanizsa square, and non-Kanizsa triangle (standards; Kanizsa 1976).”
Equivalent Representation of Real and Illusory Contours in Macaque V4
Pan, Y., Chen, M., Yin, J., An, X., Zhang, X., Lu, Y., Gong, H., Li, W., & Wang, W. (2012) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.6140-11.2012 · Cited by 108
“Illusory contours (ICs), such as the Kanizsa triangle and abutting-line gratings, are among the most frequently used illusory figures in studying form perception and object recognition (Kanizsa, 1976; Spillmann and Dresp, 1995; Nieder, 2002; Seghier and Vuilleumier, 2006).”
Background
On the Diversity of Auditory Objects
Matthen, M. (2009) · Review of Philosophy and Psychology · doi:10.1007/s13164-009-0018-z · Cited by 113
Gamma activity in human EEG is related to highspeed memory comparisons during object selective attention
Herrmann, C. S., & Mecklinger, A. (2001) · Visual Cognition · doi:10.1080/13506280143000142 · Cited by 103
“In that experiment, Kanizsa squares and triangles (Kanizsa, 1976) as well as non-Kanizsa squares and triangles were visually presented to the subjects.”
Method
Subjective surfaces: A method for completing missing boundaries
Sarti, A., Malladi, R., & Sethian, J. A. (2000) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.110135797 · Cited by 100
Phenomena of Illusory Form: Can We Bridge the Gap between Levels of Explanation?
Lothar Spillmann, A., & Dresp, B. (1995) · Perception · doi:10.1068/p241333 · Cited by 99
Temporal Interpretation in Mandarin Chinese
Smith, C. S., & Erbaugh, M. S. (2009) · Studies in linguistics and philosophy · doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2617-0_13 · Cited by 91
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McKyton, A., Ben-Zion, I., Doron, R., & Zohary, E. (2015) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.040 · Cited by 79
Subjective Surfaces: A Geometric Model for Boundary Completion
Sarti, A., Malladi, R., & Sethian, J. A. (2002) · International Journal of Computer Vision · doi:10.1023/a:1014028906229 · Cited by 90
“In contrast, we note that the visual system is able to recover curved subjective contours (Kanizsa, 1976), by exploiting both position and direction of existing boundaries.”
Background
Perceptual Completion across the Vertical Meridian and the Role of Early Visual Cortex
Pillow, J. W., & Rubin, N. (2002) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/s0896-6273(02)00605-0 · Cited by 90
“In particular,(Kanizsa, 1955, 1976, 1987; see also Figures 1A and 1B).”
Background
Illusory contours: a window onto the neurophysiology of constructing perception
Murray, M. M., & Herrmann, C. S. (2013) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2013.07.004 · Cited by 87
Explicit and implicit perception of illusory contours in unilateral spatial neglect: behavioural and anatomical correlates of preattentive grouping mechanisms
Vuilleumier, P. O., Valenza, N., & Landis, T. (2001) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/s0028-3932(00)00148-2 · Cited by 83
“The present study used Kanizsa-type illusory figures [31] to examine whether grouping effects can indeed arise preattentively in spatial neglect as a function of the integrity of specific areas in the visual cortex.”
Method
Early vision and focal attention
Julesz, B. (1991) · Reviews of Modern Physics · doi:10.1103/revmodphys.63.735 · Cited by 84
Orientation-Selective Adaptation to Illusory Contours in Human Visual Cortex
Montaser‐Kouhsari, L., Landy, M. S., Heeger, D. J., & Larsson, J. T. (2007) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4173-06.2007 · Cited by 83
Top-Down Feedback Controls the Cortical Representation of Illusory Contours in Mouse Primary Visual Cortex
Pak, A., Ryu, E., Li, C., & Chubykin, A. A. (2019) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.1998-19.2019 · Cited by 76
“One example of this ability is the perception of illusory (or subjective) contours, such as those found in Kanizsa’s triangle (Kanizsa, 1976).”
Background
High-frequency brain activity: perception or active memory?
Friedemann Pulvermüller, A., Keil, A., & Elbert, T. R. (1999) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(99)01344-3 · Cited by 82
In search of closure: Subjective contour illusions, gestalt completion tests, and implications
Wasserstein, J., Zappulla, R., Rosen, J. J., Gerstman, L. J., & Rock, D. (1987) · Brain and Cognition · doi:10.1016/0278-2626(87)90042-x · Cited by 80
Skeletal descriptions of shape provide unique perceptual information for object recognition
Ayzenberg, V., & Lourenco, S. F. (2019) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-019-45268-y · Cited by 88
Apparent Motion of Subjective Surfaces
Ramachandran, V. S. (1985) · Perception · doi:10.1068/p140127 · Cited by 79
Electrophysiological indexes of illusory contours perception in humans
Proverbio, A. M., & Zani, A. (2002) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/s0028-3932(01)00135-x · Cited by 79
A language of thought for the mental representation of geometric shapesPreprint
Sablé-Meyer, M., Ellis, K., Tenenbaum, J. B., & Dehaene, S. (2021) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2022.101527 · Cited by 112
Illusory contours: Toward a neurally based perceptual theory
Lesher, G. W. (1995) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/bf03210970 · Cited by 78
Neuroimaging Findings on Amodal Completion: A Review
Thielen, J., Bosch, S., van Leeuwen, T. M., van Gerven, M. A. J., & van Lier, R. (2019) · i-Perception · doi:10.1177/2041669519840047 · Cited by 74
“Modal completion involves the vivid visual perception of illusory contours and surfaces (Kanizsa, 1976, 1985).”
Background
Magnetoencephalographic gamma-band responses to illusory triangles in humans
Kaiser, J., Fauth‐Bühler, M., & Lutzenberger, W. (2004) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.06.033 · Cited by 76
The Relationship between Brightness Contrast and Illusory Contours
Jory, M. K., & Day, R. H. (1979) · Perception · doi:10.1068/p080003 · Cited by 76
The specificity of cortical region KO to depth structure
Tyler, C. W., Likova, L. T., Kontsevich, L. L., & Wade, A. R. (2005) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.09.067 · Cited by 74
“…the KO region lies within the lateral occipital area shown by Mendola et al. (1999) to respond well to subjective contours of the conventional kind (Kanizsa, 1978), one hypothesis is that the KO region is specialized for the processing of subjective contours in general rather than solely those…”
Background
Gestalt perception modulates early visual processing
Herrmann, C. S., & Bosch, V. (2001) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/00001756-200104170-00007 · Cited by 74
Colour, contrast and gestalt theories of perception: The impact in contemporary visual communications design
O’Connor, Z. (2013) · Color Research & Application · doi:10.1002/col.21858 · Cited by 85
Visual Agnosia in an Artist
Wapner, W., Judd, T., & Gardner, H. (1978) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/s0010-9452(78)80062-8 · Cited by 72
Disentangling effects of structure and knowledge in perceiving partly occluded shapes: An ERP study
Hazenberg, S. J., & van Lier, R. (2015) · Vision Research · doi:10.1016/j.visres.2015.10.004 · Cited by 68
Seeing without Knowing: Neural Signatures of Perceptual Inference in the Absence of Report
Vandenbroucke, A. R. E., Fahrenfort, J. J., Sligte, I. G., & Lamme, V. A. F. (2014) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00530 · Cited by 65
“Completion of the pacmen to full disks and the increased brightness are perceptually inferred (Kanizsa, 1976; Nakayama & Shimojo, 1992; Nakayama, He, & Shimojo, 1995).”
Background
Microgenesis, immediate experience and visual processes in reading.
Rosenthal, V. (2004) · Kluwer Academic Publishers eBooks · doi:10.1007/1-4020-2081-3_11 · Cited by 64
The abutting grating illusion
Soriano, M., Spillmann, L., & Bach, M. (1996) · Vision Research · doi:10.1016/0042-6989(95)00107-b · Cited by 65
Contour interpolation revealed by a dot localization paradigm
Guttman, S. E., & Kellman, P. J. (2004) · Vision Research · doi:10.1016/j.visres.2004.02.008 · Cited by 60
The spatiotemporal properties of the Craik–O’Brien–Cornsweet effect are consistent with ‘filling-in’
Davey, M. P., Maddess, T., & Srinivasan, M. V. (1998) · Vision Research · doi:10.1016/s0042-6989(97)00329-5 · Cited by 60
The Uniformity Illusion
Otten, M., Pinto, Y., Paffen, C. L. E., Seth, A. K., & Kanai, R. (2016) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797616672270 · Cited by 58
“, 2006; Zavagno & Caputo, 2001), and filling in of amodally completed Kanisza figures (Kanizsa, 1976), also occur without preceding adaptation.”
Illusory Contours and the Ends of Lines
Kennedy, J. M. (1978) · Perception · doi:10.1068/p070605 · Cited by 58
ERP abnormalities of illusory contour perception in Williams Syndrome
Grice, S. J., de Haan, M. D. H., Halit, H., Johnson, M. H., Csibra, G., Grant, J., & Karmiloff‐Smith, A. (2003) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/00001756-200310060-00003 · Cited by 57
Three-dimensional illusory contours and surfaces
Carman, G. J., & Welch, L. (1992) · Nature · doi:10.1038/360585a0 · Cited by 57
Perceptual organization, visual attention, and objecthood
Kimchi, R., Yeshurun, Y., Špehar, B., & Pirkner, Y. (2015) · Vision Research · doi:10.1016/j.visres.2015.07.008 · Cited by 56
“To this end we employed Kanizsa-type illusory figures (Kanizsa, 1976) , and manipulated the spatial distribution of elements of opposite contrast polarity, which seems to influence the grouping of inducing elements in Fig.”
Emergent representations, interaction theory and the cognitive force of metaphor
Indurkhya, B. (2006) · New Ideas in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2006.07.004 · Cited by 57
The time-course of global and local attentional guidance in Kanizsa-figure detection
Conci, M., Töllner, T., Leszczyński, M., & Müller, H. J. (2011) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.04.023 · Cited by 57
Individual differences in the effects of priors on perception: A multi-paradigm approach
Tulver, K., Aru, J., Rutiku, R., & Bachmann, T. (2019) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2019.03.008 · Cited by 51
Illusory Contour Perception and Amodal Boundary Completion: Evidence of a Dissociation Following Callosotomy
Corballis, P., Fendrich, R., Shapley, R., & Gazzaniga, M. (1999) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/089892999563535 · Cited by 61
“These results suggest that illusory contours may be attributable to low-level visual processes common to both hemispheres, whereas amodal completion re ects a higher-level, lateralized process.”
Background
Treatment Response of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Intellectually Capable Youth and Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Smith, J. R., DiSalvo, M., Green, A., Ceranoglu, T. A., Anteraper, S. A., Croarkin, P. E., & Joshi, G. (2022) · Neuropsychology Review · doi:10.1007/s11065-022-09564-1 · Cited by 57
“( Kanizsa, 1976) In these studies, the rate of commission, omission, and total errors was measured pre-and post-TMS after subjects were exposed to the Kanizsa odd-ball task.”
The brain creates illusions not just for us: sharks (Chiloscyllium griseum) can “see the magic” as well
Fuss, T., Bleckmann, H., & Schluessel, V. (2014) · Frontiers in Neural Circuits · doi:10.3389/fncir.2014.00024 · Cited by 53
On the perception of illusory contours
Ramachandran, V. S., Ruskin, D. A., Cobb, S., Rogers-Ramachandran, D., & Tyler, C. W. (1994) · Vision Research · doi:10.1016/0042-6989(94)90080-9 · Cited by 53
From local to global processing: The development of illusory contour perception
Nayar, K., Franchak, J. M., Adolph, K. E., & Kiorpes, L. (2014) · Journal of Experimental Child Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2014.11.001 · Cited by 58
“Global form perception and boundary completion in the service of visual object recognition have been extensively studied in adults using Kanizsa illusory contours (KICs) (Kanizsa, 1976).”
Background
Grouping in object recognition: The role of a Gestalt law in letter identification
Pelli, D. G., Majaj, N. J., Raizman, N., et al. (2009) · Cognitive Neuropsychology · doi:10.1080/13546800802550134 · Cited by 51
“…investigators refined Wertheimer’s dot lattice technique, studying factors that bias the observer to report the elements as grouped in one way or the other (Epstein, 1988; Hochberg & Peterson, 1987; Kanizsa, 1976; Kubovy, Holcombe, & Wagemans, 1998; Peterson & Gibson, 1994; Rock & Palmer, 1990).”
Method
Exploratory Study of rTMS Neuromodulation Effects on Electrocortical Functional Measures of Performance in an Oddball Test and Behavioral Symptoms in Autism
Sokhadze, E. M., Lamina, E. V., Casanova, M., Kelly, D. P., Opriș, I. C., Tasman, A., & Casanova, M. F. (2018) · Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnsys.2018.00020 · Cited by 56
“The test used in the study was a three-stimuli oddball task with rare illusory Kanizsa (Kanizsa, 1976) squares (target, 25%), rare Kanizsa triangle (novel distracter, also 25”
Method
Effects of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy on Evoked and Induced Gamma Oscillations in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Casanova, M. F., Shaban, M., Ghazal, M. A., El-Baz, A. S., Casanova, M., Opriș, I. C., & Sokhadze, E. M. (2020) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci10070423 · Cited by 53
Stimulus determinants of brightness and distinctness of subjective contours
Petry, S., Harbeck, A., Conway, J., et al. (1983) · Perception & Psychophysics · doi:10.3758/bf03211344 · Cited by 50
Failure of object recognition due to a breakdown of figure-ground discrimination in a patient with normal acuity
Kartsounis, L. D., & Warrington, E. K. (1991) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/0028-3932(91)90061-c · Cited by 50
What can fish brains tell us about visual perception?
Salva, O. R., Sovrano, V. A., & Vallortígara, G. (2014) · Frontiers in Neural Circuits · doi:10.3389/fncir.2014.00119 · Cited by 49
“Subjective contours are the manifestation of these principles, the action of a network that is predisposed to complete certain figural elements (Kanizsa, 1976; Gerbino and Salmaso, 1987; Purghé and Coren, 1992; Nieder and Wagner, 1999).”
Background
The perceived strength of illusory contours
Banton, T. A., & Levi, D. M. (1992) · Perception & Psychophysics · doi:10.3758/bf03211704 · Cited by 48
Neural Network Modeling
Levine, D. S. (2002) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/0471214426.pas0406 · Cited by 48
Spatial and temporal properties of illusory figures
Kojo, I., Liinasuo, M., & Rovamo, J. M. (1993) · Vision Research · doi:10.1016/0042-6989(93)90072-5 · Cited by 47

Authors: Kanizsa, G.
Corresponding author: Kanizsa, Gaetano
Venue: Scientific American
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published: 1976-04
Volume: 234
Issue: 4
Pages: 48-52
ISSN: 0036-8733 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican0476-48
OpenAlex: W4251427381
Cited by: 503
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 19 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 12
FWCI: 3.95
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Scientific American (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Aesthetic Perception and Analysis
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
Keywords: illusory contours, visual perception, figure-ground perception, depth perception
MeSH terms: Form Perception, Humans, Illusions, Optical Illusions

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