Abstract

A close relationship has been shown between the spatial frequency of sine waves filling adjacent regions of 2-D figure/ground ambiguous pictures and the organization of those pictures into figure and ground (Wong and Weisstein, 1985; Klymenko and Weisstein, 1985). Areas filled with the relatively higher spatial frequency were predominantly perceived as figure in front of the lower spatial frequency filled ground areas. We report a similar spatial frequency effect on the organization of regions in depth that continued to dominate the perception even when conflicting disparity information was present. Our stimulus was a 3.3 (h) × 2.6 (1) degree rectangular region divided into four 0.825 × 2.6 degree sections. Alternate sections contained sinusoidal gratings of different spatial frequencies. Each spatial frequency was viewed in combination with every other spatial frequency, with one of the spatial frequencies always having disparity information present. Observers’ judgments of which sections were in front were significantly related to spatial frequency but not to disparity. Sections containing the relatively higher spatial frequency were seen in front even when the lower spatial frequency sections had disparity information designating them as nearer the observer. These results are interpreted in terms of a spatial frequency basis for figure/ground formation.

© 1985 Optical Society of America