| Popis: |
Illusory brightness is the visual experience of an apparent central region of “glare” as if there were about to happen a physical increase in light, when looking at converging gradients. In adults, illusory brightness is accompanied by a spontaneous and rapid contraction of a pupil, which reveals the ‘constraints’ used by the visual system when constructing visual scenes or objects. Yet, the origins of this pupil response remain unclear. The current study aims to examine whether this pupil response is already present in preverbal infants at 5 months of age, as already documented in adults. No pupillary change to the illusion would indicate that the involuntary response requires maturation within the visual system, possibly together with extended exposure to natural glare in the child’s environment. However, if infants show pupillary constrictions to illusory bright stimuli, this will constitute evidence that this may be one of the earliest visual illusions to develop or possibly already hard-wired as a protective mechanism against glare. |
