A review of research work relating perceptual response to physical form parameters. The parameters are classified into transitive, transpositional, and intransitive. The number of intransitive parameters, which comprise measures that specify the characteristics of shape contours proper and contain the bulk of all physical measures, is quite large, but only very recent work has begun to point to the existence of a common denominator of these measures and to the possibility of arriving at a limited set of related and homogeneous parameters based on both empirical evidence and a piori mathematical considerations.

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Eye movements of 13 Ss in response to a structured sample of 42 polygons were recorded, using the Brandt Eye Camera, to find out “how people look at nonrepresentational shapes.” The ultimate purpose was to define the criteria for drawing a basic reference axis (dominant direction) for computing various physical parameters of random shapes used in form perception experiments. An experiment consisting of four parts was performed. In Part I Ss were given 8 sec. to judge the degree of symmetry of the stimuli. In Part II the instructions were simply to explore the stimuli for 8 sec. In Parts III and IV stimuli were presented tachistoscopically for .2 sec. (which eliminated eye movements) and Ss' eye movements were recorded for 6 sec. during the post-exposure period. The task was the rating of the degree of symmetry of single stimuli in Part III and the comparative judgment of symmetry of pairs of stimuli in Part IV. The results of Parts I and II did not differ: in simple shapes Ss simply scanned the outlines of the stimuli and in complex figures fixations concentrated at the outlines and/or intricate or significant portions of the shapes. In Parts III and IV judgments were almost instantaneous and the post-exposure eye movements could not be correlated with any configurational properties of the shapes.

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