Shifts in perceived size as a function of contrast and temporal modulation.

It has been suggested that perceived size depends upon the distribution of responses among a localized population of different size-tuned mechanisms. If so, then manipulations which alter this distribution should also affect perceived size. We therefore studied the effects of luminance contrast and mode of temporal presentation on size perception. Both manipulations produce significant shifts in perceived size. The results suggest that at least two factors contribute to the size percept. For small and intermediate size patterns, perceived size depends primarily on the local distribution of size-tuned mechanism responses, whereas for wide patterns, the spatial distribution of mechanism responses plays a major role.