Study on the Visual Information Processing in Perception of Delboeuf Illusion by Visual Evoked Potential

Abstract

Geometric optical illusions consist of three factors: space/position, angle/direction, and assimilation/contrast. Illusions in this category can be explained by how much each factor affects the magnitude of the illusion. Each factor affects one of the stages of human information processing: sensation, perception and cognition. However, the relationship between the factors in geometric optical illusions and the stages of human information processing remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to clarify this relationship by analysing visual evoked potentials during Delboeuf illusion recognition. In particular, we focused on the Delboeuf illusion. In this paper, we recorded the EEG signal during the display of the Delboeuf illusion and conducted a behavioural experiment with the Delboeuf illusion. As EEG results, we observed P100, N200, P200 and N300 EEG during the recognition of the Delboeuf illusion. Significant differences were observed in each EEG with and without the Delboeuf illusion effect. In terms of behavioural results, we observed a significantly higher occurrence of the illusion during depth perception due to the Delboeuf illusion. These results suggest that the Delboeuf illusion is related to information processing in depth perception. Since the main cause of the Delboeuf illusion is assimilation/contrast, it is likely that assimilation/contrast is related to information processing in depth perception.