Abstract
This article presents a study on Van Tuijl’s (1975) neon effect. The neon effect can be described as an illusory spreading of color around the colored elements of an otherwise black line pattern. The observer has a strong impression of colored light projected onto a lattice of black lines. The hypothesis is advanced that the neon effect will only result if the structural relationships between black and colored line elements in the pattern are such that a neon interpretation is the most efficient interpretation that can be given of the pattern. The necessity of this approach to the neon phenomenon emanates from the inadequacy of alternative, more simple, explanations, such as aberrations of peripheral perceptual mechanisms or the presence in the pattern of easily definable stimulus features. To subject the hypothesis proposed above to experimental test, a precise quantification of its central concept, the efficiency of pattern interpretations, is needed. To that end, Leeuwenberg’s (1971) coding language for sequential patterns is introduced. By means of the coding language, pattern interpretations can be represented in a pattern code, the length of which is inversely proportional to the efficiency of the interpretation coded. Several possible interpretations of color differences between the elements of line patterns are discussed, and it is shown how the efficiency of each of them can be determined. Next, in two experiments, the efficiency of the neon interpretationrelative to that of alternative interpretations of color differences in line patterns is varied, by manipulating the structural relations between black and colored line elements, and the dependency of the neon effect on the relative efficiency of the neon interpretation is demonstrated. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Reference Notes
Tuijl, H. F. J. M. van. & Weert, Ch. M. M. de.Sensory conditions for the occurrence of the neon spreading illusion. Manuscript submitted for publication, 1978.
Buffart, H. F. J. M.A coding language for patterns. Report 73FU07, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 1973.
References
Beck, J. Contrast and assimilation in lightness judgments.Perception & Psychophysics, 1966,1, 342–344.
Helson, H. Studies of anomalous contrast and assimilation.Journal of the Optical Society of America, 1963,53, 179–184.
Koffka, K.Principles of Gestalt psychology. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1935.
Leeuwenberg, E. L. J. Quantitative specification of information in sequential patterns.Psychological Review, 1969,76, 216–220.
Leeuwenberg, E. L. J. A perceptual coding language for visual and auditory patterns.American Journal of Psychology, 1971,84, 307–349.
Tuijl, H. F. J. M. van, A new visual illusion: Neonlike color spreading and complementary color induction between subjective contours.Acta Psychologica, 1975,39, 441–445.
Von Bezold, W.Die Farbenlehre im Hinblick auf Kunst und Kunstgewerbe. Braunschweig: Westermann. 1874.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The first author’s share in the preparation of this article was made possible by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Pure Research (Z.W.O.).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
van Tuijl, H.F.J.M., Leeuwenberg, E.L.J. Neon color spreading and structural information measures. Perception & Psychophysics 25, 269–284 (1979). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198806
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198806