Takeichi, H., Nakazawa, H.,
Murakami, I. &
Shimojo, S. (1995).
The theory of curvature constraint line for amodal completion.
Perception, 24, 373-389.
Amodal completion of partly occluded figures is analyzed as natural
computation. Here amodal completion is shown to consist of four
subproblems: representation, parsing, correspondence, and
interpolation. Second, each problem is shown to be basically
solvable on the basis of the generic-viewpoint assumption. It is
also argued that the interpolation problem might be the key problem
because of mutual interdependence among the subproblems. Third, a
theory is described for the interpolation problem, in which the
generic-viewpoint assumption and the curvature-consistency
assumption are presumed. The generic-viewpoint assumption
entails that the orientation and the curvature should not change at
the point of occlusion. The curvature-consistency assumption
entails that the hidden contour should have the minimum number of
inflections to maintain continuity in orientation and curvature. The
shape of the interpolated contour represented qualitatively in
terms of the number of inflections can uniquely be determined when
the location of the terminators and local orientation and curvature
of the visible contours at the terminators are given. Fourth, it is
shown in an instant psychophysics that the theory is highly
consistent with human performance.