CONTEXT INFLUENCE ON THE PERCEPTION OF FIGURES AS CONDITIONAL UPON PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION STRATEGIES

Two experiments tested the effect of context on figure perception. Sub jects were shown rapid sequences of three figures: a prime, a whole, a nd a part. They were asked to decide if the third figure was a part of the second (Experiment 1) or if the second and third figures were the same or different with respect to a particular angle (Experiment 2). The prime served to establish a context for stimuli that followed to b e compared. Priming had influence on the part-whole comparison in Expe riment 1, but not on the local comparison in Experiment 2. The results of Experiment 1 were interpreted as evidence for a role of prior info rmation in perceptual organization. Experiment 2 showed that the task must require an integrative perceptual organization strategy for the p riming effects to occur.