The influence of “advancing” and “receding” colors on figure-ground perception under monocular and binocular viewing

Research on figure-ground perception has consistently found that red images are more likely to be perceived as figure/nearer, yet the mechanisms behind this are not completely clear. The primary theories have pointed to optical chromatic aberrations or cortical mechanisms, such as the antagonistic interactions of the magno-/parvocellular (M/P) systems. Our study explored this color-biased figure-ground perception by examining the duration for which a region was perceived as figure under both binocular and monocular conditions, using all combinations of red, blue, green, and gray. In Experiment 1, we used figure-ground ambiguous Maltese crosses, composed of left- and right-tilting sectors of equal area. In Experiment 2, the crosses were figure-ground biased with size and orientation cues. Here, small sectors of cardinal orientations, likely perceived as figure, were contrasted with larger, obliquely oriented sectors, likely perceived as ground. Under monocular conditions, the results aligned with chromatic aberration predictions: red advanced and blue receded, regardless of size and orientation. However, under binocular conditions, the advancing effect of red continued, but the receding effect of blue was generally not observed. Notably, blue, along with red and green, was more frequently perceived as figure compared to gray. The results under binocular viewing are in line with the expectations of the antagonistic M/P system interactions theory, likely due to the collective input from both eyes, facilitating the anticipated effects. Our findings suggest that color-biased figure-ground perception may arise from the synergistic effect of antagonistic M/P system interactions and other optical and cortical mechanisms, together compensating for chromatic aberrations.