PERCEPTION OF COMPLEX LINE-DRAWINGS

In figure segregation that may accompany figural completion, only 1 in terpretation is dominant for some figures, whereas several different i nterpretations can be selected almost equally for other figures. This article addresses 2 problems in explaining this fact: (a) how to defin e quantitative measures for features (including gestalt principles of grouping) and (b) how to estimate the probability of each interpretati on on the basis of these definitions. Quantitative definitions are giv en to 7 features involved in figure segregation and completion: the re lative number of corners, good continuation, symmetry, curvature const ancy, convexity, coincidence, and similarity. Each feature's value can be calculated from the total curvature function of the contour. The p robability of each interpretation drawn by the participants is calcula ted by applying linear multiple regression analysis. Experimental resu lts indicate that the proposed method can estimate human performance o n a figure segregation and figural completion task fairly well.