Probing collinearity bias in the close induction field.

The substrates of the Poggendorff illusion can be evaluated using as few as two line segments, a test segment whose collinearity is judged, and an induction segment which serves to bias that judgment. Previous research from this laboratory has shown that a very short induction segment can produce a substantial bias of perceived collinearity when it is centered at the tip of the test segment, and there is some evidence that the symmetry of this configuration affects the strength of this bias. Four experiments were conducted to clarify the issue of symmetry in the stimulation of the "half-field" zones which lie on each side of the tip. That Exp. 1a showed displacements which moved the induction segment to an eccentric position, i.e., occupying a single half-field, reduced collinearity error. With additional displacement which produced a gap there was a rebound of induction effect. Exp. 1b indicated that an eccentric induction segment does not produce the usual strength or pattern of bias as a function of its orientation relative to the test segment. Exp. 2a suggested that the strength of induction effect is a function of symmetry within the half-fields rather than the lengths of the segments per se. Finally, in Exp. 2b the strength of induction was a joint function of the position of a short segment within one half-field and the length of another segment which stimulated the other half-field. The effect showed a complex oscillation with changes in position. We discuss the induction mechanism as beginning with "contour filters" which register the induction segment(s) and which combine their responses on the basis of "tandem activation" of the close half-fields.