Performance on a target can be modified by contextual elements. For example, thresholds strongly increase when a vernier is flanked by two lines. Increasing the number of flankers reduces contextual interference when the flankers are shorter or longer than the vernier: bigger is better. However, there is no improvement when flankers have the same length as the vernier (Malania et al, 2007 Journal of Vision 7(2):1 1–7). Stimuli were 80 cd/m² on a black background. Here, we used stimuli with the luminance of 1 cd/m². Performance deteriorated similarly as in the 80 cd/m² condition when the vernier was flanked by two lines that were longer than the vernier. However, increasing the number of flankers did not improve performance as in the 80 cd/m² condition: bigger is not better. Our results show that contextual modulation is highly dependent on the luminance of the stimuli.
Anisoara Ionescu, Lena Carcreff, Stéphane Armand
Baptiste Joseph Eustache Lepers
David Atienza Alonso, Marina Zapater Sancho, Arman Iranfar, Wellington Silva De Souza