Abstract

The present study was aimed at investigating the role of figural binding and selective attention processes involved in the perception of a Kanizsa figure. In Experiment 1, the visual-exploratory strategies involved in the visual selection of an illusory Kanizsa figure among inducer disks (pacmen) were compared to those involved in the selection of a real figure included in the same pacmen's display. In Experiment 2, the number of pacmen was reduced in order to investigate whether the attentional processes used to select the illusory figure were equal to those employed in the selection of the real figure. The results obtained using an eye-tracker system show that both the illusory figure and the real figure are selected 1) before the other elements of the display and 2) without a serial search.