The McCollough effect with plaids and gratings: Evidence for a plaid-selective visual mechanism

Abstract

We investigate if adapting to colored plaids produces a McCollough effect on plaids or gratings and if adapting to colored gratings produces a McCollough effect on plaids. We find that the answer is unambiguously yes in all cases, though the strength of the effect differs significantly depending on the inducing and testing stimuli. Furthermore, we show that plaids and gratings can simultaneously support opposite color aftereffects, suggesting that plaids drive a population of cells that are not stimulated by the same component gratings in isolation.