The goal of this project is to figure out whether the mechanisms of form perception are color invariant. To answer this question we use Glass patterns. Glass patterns are stimuli made by superimposing two identical random dot patterns after geometrically transforming one of them. The local orientation of the dot pairs elicits a strong percept of a global form. We use circular and radial Glass patterns.

A circular and radial Glass pattern

In addition we use an adaptation protocol. The notion of the adaptation is that prolonged exposure to a stimulus leads to a decrease in sensitivity of the mechanisms that are processing the stimulus. In our study we adapt subjects either to form or color. We analyze behavioral responses together with early components of event-related potentials (ERP). By comparing the ERP components evoked by Glass patterns with and without adaptation we evaluate the relationship between form and color perception.