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White M, 1981, "The effect of the nature of the surround on the perceived lightness of grey bars within square-wave test gratings" Perception 10(2) 215 – 230
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The effect of the nature of the surround on the perceived lightness of grey bars within square-wave test gratings

Michael White

Received 11 July 1980

Abstract. The perceived lightness of grey bars within grey-white and grey-black square-wave test gratings was measured in the presence of different surrounding regions (plain black, plain white, or black-white square-wave gratings). The results for the grey-white test gratings are explained in terms of three separate processes: (i) lightness contrast; (ii) lightness assimilation resulting from the limited ability of the visual system to deal with grating contrast at higher spatial frequencies; and (iii) lightness assimilation resulting from lateral inhibition between pattern detecting channels mediating the perception of the gratings in the test regions and the surrounds. The results for the grey-black test gratings were explained without reference to the third process. It is concluded that techniques involving lightness assimilation could provide investigators with a sensitive new method of investigating the specificities of the inhibitory interactions underlying pattern perception.

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