Abstract
Amodal completion is the representation of those parts of the perceived object that we get no sensory stimulation from. In the case of vision, it is the representation of occluded parts of objects we see: When we see a cat behind a picket fence, our perceptual system represents those parts of the cat that are occluded by the picket fence. The aim of this piece is to argue that amodal completion plays a constitutive role in our everyday perception and trace the theoretical consequences of this claim.
Highlights
Amodal completion is the representation of those parts of the perceived object that we get no sensory stimulation from
In the case of vision, it is the representation of occluded parts of objects we see: When we see a cat behind a picket fence, our perceptual system represents those parts of the cat that are occluded by the picket fence
If we do a bit of touching up of these ways of characterizing mental imagery, we get the following definition: Mental imagery is perceptual processing that is not triggered by corresponding sensory stimulation in a given sense modality
Summary
Amodal completion is the representation of those parts of the perceived object that we get no sensory stimulation from. We do not receive any sensory stimulation that would correspond to the backside of solid three-dimensional objects, but there is perceptual processing of this missing information—in a way reminiscent of amodal completion (Ekroll, Sayim, Van der Hallen, & Wagemans, 2016, Nanay, 2010a). Even if we deny that sensory stimulation is necessary for perception, unless we deny some kind of causal link as necessary for perception, we can safely conclude that amodal completion does not represent perceptually.
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