NEON COLOR SPREADING WITH AND WITHOUT ITS FIGURAL PREREQUISITES

Neon colour spreading has been shown to disappear if certain figural c onditions are not met. Evidence is presented which suggests that these conditions are only incidentally related to the neon spreading effect ; in particular, that they can be violated as long as the structure re mains compatible with the interpretation of a transparent surface. It is proposed that neon spreading and classical colour assimilation shar e the same basic mechanism, and that the peculiar perceptual attribute s of the former derive from the perceptual scissioning of ordinary ass imilation colour. This process is identical to that occurring with non illusory colours in phenomenal transparency.