Cited by 352Visual perception and processing mechanismsFace Recognition and PerceptionColor Science and Applications

Texture interactions determine perceived contrast

Open access
Chubb, C, Sperling, G, Solomon, J A·1989·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

For a patch of random visual texture embedded in a surrounding background of similar texture, we demonstrate that the perceived contrast of the texture patch depends substantially on the contrast of the background. When the texture patch is surrounded by high-contrast texture, the bright points of the texture patch appear dimmer, and simultaneously, its dark points appear less dark than when it is surrounded by a uniform background. The induced reduction of apparent contrast is greatly diminished when (i) the texture patch and background are filtered into nonoverlapping spatial frequency bands or (ii) the texture patch and background are presented to different eyes. Our results are unanticipated by all current theories of lightness perception and point to a perceptual mechanism for contrast gain control occurring at an early cortical or precortical neural locus.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.86.23.9631

Cites

7 of 7 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • In an illusion, the contrast of a small textured disk appears reduced when presented within a high-contrast surround compared with when it is presented in isolation.

    “A third approach uses an illusion in which the contrast of a small textured disk appears reduced when presented within a high-contrast surround compared with when it is presented in isolation (26) (Figure 5).”

    From Visual perception and its impairment in schizophrenia (2008) · cites this paper as [26]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [1]Mach, E. (1866) Sitzungsber. Math.-Naturwissens. Kl. Kaiser. Acad. Wiss. 54, 131–144; Ratliff, F., trans. (1965) Mach Bands: Quantitative Studies on Neural Networks in the Retina (Holden-Day, San Francisco), pp. 272–284.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Chubb, C., Sperling, G., & Solomon, J. A.
Affiliations
New York University (US)
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
1989-12
Volume
86
Issue
23
Pages
9631-9635
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
OpenAlex
W2004880183
Cited by
352
References
7
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 18
FWCI
1.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Color Science and Applications
Keywords
perceived contrast, background contrast, lightness perception, contrast gain control, spatial frequency filtering, visual texture, apparent brightness
MeSH terms
Darkness, Humans, Photic Stimulation, Space Perception, Time Factors, Contrast Sensitivity

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review