Mutual contrast effects of perceived average size between groups of objects: Neural and behavioural evidence

Mutual contrast effects of perceived average size between groups of objects: Neural and behavioural evidence | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Mutual contrast effects of perceived average size between groups of objects: Neural and behavioural evidence Elif Memis, Gereon Rudolf Fink, Ralph Weidner This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8965288/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The human visual system simultaneously and accurately computes summary statistics of object features, such as average size or average orientation, across groups of objects. Evidence suggests that summary statistics across groups are not independent but are influenced by one another. In this study, we examined whether the average size of one set of objects affects the perceived size of another set, and whether such changes are reflected in altered functional activation patterns in retinotopic regions of the visual cortex. The average size of a task-irrelevant group of objects altered the perceived size of a task-relevant group in a contrast-like manner: When the task-irrelevant set was larger, participants perceived the average size of the task-relevant set as smaller; conversely, a smaller task-irrelevant set led to a larger perceived average size in the task-relevant set. A greater number of activated voxels in retinotopic brain regions representing task-relevant sets perceived as larger reflected these perceptual contrast effects. Coding of task-irrelevant sets was similarly modulated suggesting that their perceived average size was also altered. Overall, our data indicate that summary statistics of different object groups are contrasted and that these interactions alter neural representations in early visual cortex. Biological sciences/Neuroscience Biological sciences/Psychology Social science/Psychology Size-contrast Size averaging Ebbinghaus illusion Context integration Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 29 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 28 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 12 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 31 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 30 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 19 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 19 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 16 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 13 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 13 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8965288","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":610091048,"identity":"8774c26b-b179-4acf-b3ea-c6f8577cf34a","order_by":0,"name":"Elif Memis","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA90lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYNACAwY59gYQxWDBwyDBAEKEtRjzHABrkSBWCwNDYs8BMC3BQFALPwN34qMbBXXpPfwHGIp5KiRk+Gc3MN74gEeLZAPvZuMcg8O5PQwHgK47I8EjcecAs+UMfL44wLtNOsfgQO5+xv4PxrxtEjwGEgls0jx4tNgf4N3+O8egLp2HmYHBmPcfVMsffLYw8G5jzjFgTuBhA2lpgGrB532Jw7ybgQ47bNgDdIvhnGNAv9xIbLbswaOFv7134+ecP3XyPPwH2Aze1NjY889IPnjjBz5rmBFMNgMIzdiATwOq7gdEKx0Fo2AUjIIRBQAlhT5kwrK3tgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Forschungszentrum Jülich","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Elif","middleName":"","lastName":"Memis","suffix":""},{"id":610091049,"identity":"18b7614c-b88d-4f2b-a677-e42c292f4230","order_by":1,"name":"Gereon Rudolf Fink","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Forschungszentrum Jülich","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gereon","middleName":"Rudolf","lastName":"Fink","suffix":""},{"id":610091050,"identity":"e5101ab6-19c6-4f17-acec-1c041e7a68b9","order_by":2,"name":"Ralph Weidner","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Forschungszentrum Jülich","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ralph","middleName":"","lastName":"Weidner","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-25 08:39:21","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8965288/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8965288/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105565086,"identity":"dd1cebc2-b04b-4bff-ae49-511c3d98723d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-27 12:51:51","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1025515,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MSrevised13032026clean.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8965288/v1_covered_5da3ae82-0101-44db-81e0-713dcfd7136f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Mutual contrast effects of perceived average size between groups of objects: Neural and behavioural evidence","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Size-contrast, Size averaging, Ebbinghaus illusion, Context integration","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8965288/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8965288/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe human visual system simultaneously and accurately computes summary statistics of object features, such as average size or average orientation, across groups of objects. 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