中華心理學刊 民100，53卷，4期，393-397
Chinese Journal of Psychology 2011, Vol.53, No.4, 393-397

Lothar Spillmann（Department of Neurology, University Hospital Freiburg）

Abstract

Why do we see what is not there? Fading of a target on a uniform background and perceptual filling-in from the edge are examples of the failure of the visual system to provide sustained vision under conditions of prolonged fixation. Another phenomenon that falls into this category is motion-induced blindness. The relationship between these three phenomena is not entirely clear, but the  preference for small, peripheral, and low-contrast targets suggests that the mechanism underlying these effects may be similar. It has lately been shown that in addition to the above stimulus attributes, salience of the stimulus and perceptual grouping may also affect fading and filling-in. Furthermore, stereodepth and monocular depth cues have been proposed as relevant factors. These findings imply that in addition to bottom-up mechanisms top-down mechanisms are responsible for the perceptual disappearance of a fixated target by fading and filling-in. The following four articles in this special issue will summarize the phenomenological and
psychophysical findings for fading and filling-in of brightness, color, and texture and correlate these observations with the presumed neurophysiological mechanisms.

Keywords: fading, motion-induced blindness, neurophysiology, perceptual filling-in, psychophysics