A MODEL FOR IDENTIFYING THE PERCEPTUAL CENTER OF POLYGONS

An attempt is made to develop a general model of perceptual-centre det ermination. The model describes the possible 'perceptual operations' i nvolved in determining the perceptual centre of flat figures. The spec ific steps in the model are: (i) determining the orientation and size of the figure; (ii) determining the 'base' of the figure and its 'top- bottom axis'. It is suggested that anisotropy along the main axes of t he figures determines a displacement of the perceptual centre toward t he phenomenal top of the shape. A quantitative measure for the displac ement of the perceptual centre from the area barycentre of the figure is introduced.