Strength of feature contrast mediates interaction among feature domains

MEINHARDT, GÜNTER
PERSIKE, MALTE

Westf. Wilhelms Universität, FB07, Fliednerstrasse 21, D-48149 Münster, Germany

^*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]

Received 1 April 2003; revised 26 July 2003; accepted 8 August 2003

Spatial Vision 16(5):p 459-478, 2003.

Traditional theories of texture segregation suggest that elementary visual features are processed in parallel by independent modules at early visual stages. Here we show that, for small feature contrasts and large values evoking perceptual popout, different forms of module interaction exist. While discrimination of highly salient features rests on independent feature specific pathways, information is summed across domains when barely noticeable ones are to be detected in homogeneous textures.