Contours, Attention and Illusion

In this paper, I want to hold two theses. First, in seeing-in, the emergence of the picture’s subject in the recognitional fold is basically due to how in the configurational fold attention holistically operates on the pictorial vehicle’s elements. This holistic work occurs by means of the 3D figure/ground segmentation attention applies to such elements in surrounding them with appropriate contours, either objective or subjective. Second, this attentional operation produces an illusory perception of the picture’s vehicle as a 3D item, whose illusory character is both recognized as such and contributes to determine the overall perceptual phenomenal character of seeing-in. As such, that operation indeed induces, in the recognitional fold, a knowingly illusory perception of the picture’s subject as well.