Integration of local features into a global shape

AbstractIt is a well-established fact that the cortical filters selective for spatial frequency and orientation have a limited spatial extent. The present study investigated how information from local filters is integrated into global shapes. Specifically, we were interested in whether identification of a global pattern consisting of small oriented, spatially-bandpass features (Gabor patches) depends on the orientations of those features. The observer was presented with a C-like stimulus shape comprised of oriented Gabor elements on a blank background, and the performance measure was the threshold contrast for identifying the global orientation of the C-shape (four possible rotated orientat…