Aftereffect of Adaptation to Illusory Brightness

Several figures are known to induce illusory brightness. We tested whether adaptation to illusory brightness produced an aftereffect in brightness. After viewing a gray square area having illusory brightness (e.g., due to brightness contrast or illusory contours) for ten seconds, the illusion-inducing surround vanished. After three seconds, subjects reported whether the square area was seen as brighter than, darker than, or the same brightness as a control gray square area. The luminance of the tested square area was physically unchanged. The results show that when the black surround inducing brightness contrast suddenly became gray (i.e., vanished), the center gray square tended to look darker than a control gray square. Similarly, after viewing a subjective square consisting of black-line terminations, the square area tended to look darker than the control even though the afterimage of the lines could not be seen. These results indicate that induced or illusory brightness causes an aftereffect in brightness regardless of the appearance of negative afterimages of the illusion-inducing components.