The effects of distractor orientation on the magnitude of length misjudgments

Abstract

The predictions of the model of automatic centroid extraction were tested in the psychophysical examinations of the Brentano figure comprising the symmetric or asymmetric Müller–Lyer wings. It was demonstrated that the model calculations properly account for all illusion magnitude variations induced by distractors’ rotation. A good correspondence between the experimental and theoretical data supports the suggestion that local positional biases caused by the neural processes of automatic centroid extraction can be one of the main reasons of emergence of the Müller-Lyer and related illusions of extent.