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Perception of illusory surfaces and contours in goldfish

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 September 2007

KATJA WYZISK  and
CHRISTA NEUMEYER
KATJA WYZISK
Affiliation:
Institut für Zoologie III (Neurobiologie), Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany
CHRISTA NEUMEYER
Affiliation:
Institut für Zoologie III (Neurobiologie), Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany
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Abstract

Goldfish (Carassius auratus) were trained to discriminate triangles and squares using a two choice procedure. In the first experiment, three goldfish were trained with food reward on a black outline triangle on a white background, while a black outline square was shown for comparison. In transfer tests, a Kanizsa triangle and a Kanizsa square were presented, perceived by humans as an illusory triangle- or square-shaped surface of slightly higher brightness than the background. The choice behavior in this situation indicates that goldfish are able to discriminate between both figures in almost the same way as in the training situation. In control experiments goldfish did not discriminate between shapes in which humans do not perceive the illusion. A series of generalization experiments was performed indicating the similarity between the tested shapes and the training triangle. From all these findings we conclude that goldfish are able to perceive an illusory triangle or square within the Kanizsa figures. In a second experiment, four goldfish were trained on a white outline triangle versus a white outline square, both on black background with white diagonal lines. In transfer tests in which the shapes were replaced by gaps within the white diagonal lines, goldfish were clearly able to discriminate between the two patterns based on the illusory contours. This was not the case in tranfer tests with phase shifted abutting lines.

Keywords

Form visionIllusory contoursKanizsa triangleTraining experimentsGoldfish
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , May 2007 , pp. 291 - 298
Copyright
© 2007 Cambridge University Press

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