Phenomenal Regression to the Real Object. I

Thouless, Robert H.

doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1931.tb00597.x

Cited by 167 publications

(134 citation statements)

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“…The results of Experiment 1 replicate the findings of experiments demonstrating the effects of shape constancy (e.g., Thouless, 1931aThouless, , 1931b. Participants consistently chose an outline representing a more "rectangular" view of the window than the view in the photographs.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

How shape constancy relates to drawing accuracy.

Cohen¹,

Jones²

2008

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

103

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There is increasing evidence that the major source of drawing errors lies in the initial perception of the to-be-drawn object. In four experiments, the authors explore the relation between an artist's susceptibility to perceptual transformations, as measured by a simple shape constancy task, and drawing accuracy. The data reveal a robust negative relation between errors on the shape constancy task and drawing accuracy in general, and specifically the accuracy of the rendering of spatial relations. The data further suggest that the perceptual processes that lead to errors on the shape constancy task occur during the initial encoding of the stimuli. The authors conclude that the shape constancy task likely measures one's ability to overcome constructive perception processes that transform the retinal image into a final percept, and that this ability is necessary for the accurate rendering of objects.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

How shape constancy relates to drawing accuracy.

Cohen¹,

Jones²

2008

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

103

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“…This is consistent with work that shows that observers do not process visual angles precisely and tend to enlarge smaller visual angles (Higashiyama, 1992). Much work has also shown that past history and significance, familiar size, and other cognitive processes may "add to" the visual angle or our phenomenal impressions of object size, in order to increase object size toward the actual size (Foley et al, 2004;Gilinsky, 1951;Gogel, 1974Gogel, , 1998Gogel & Da Silva, 1987;Higashiyama & Kitano, 1991;Matsushima et al, 2005;Thouless, 1931). Although verbal estimates were far longer than the visual angle predictions, it seems that the observers were utilizing some characteristics of visual angle, because the estimates of length doubled with a halving of the distance to the lines.…”

Section: Conditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The visual perception of lines on the road

Shaffer

Maynor

Roy

2008

Perception & Psychophysics

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The present work demonstrates that observers grossly underestimate the length of lines parallel to their line of sight. In Experiment 1, observers, working from memory, estimated the length of a dashed line on the road to be 0.61 m. This result is consistent with observers' using an average visual angle converted to the physical length of visible lines on the road to estimate their length. In Experiment 2, observers gave verbal and matching estimates that significantly underestimated the length of a 3.05-m line on the ground that was parallel to their line of sight. In Experiment 3, observers significantly underestimated the length of dashed lines on the road while in a moving car. The results of Experiments 1 and 3 are described well by Euclidean geometry, whereas the tangle model that utilizes an increasing function of the visual angle to describe perceived extent best describes the results of Experiment 2.

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“…The ability to perceive length and spatial extent does not necessarily improve when observers view real objects. For example, Baird and Biersdorf (1967) found that judged extents in depth of cardboard strips placed flat on a table top decreased by 21% as the strips were moved farther from the observers, from the front to the rear of the table (see also Thouless, 1931). Frisby,Buckley,and Duke (1996) recently conducted an interesting study oflength discriminations, using real "gnarled" sticks, and found that when the two sticks had different orientations and different distances (Experiment 6), the Weber fraction for binocular viewing averaged 10.6%.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research on real-world stimuli has used gnarled sticks (Frisby et aI., 1996) or relatively flat ground planes or flat table tops (Baird & Biersdorf, 1967;Gilinsky, 1951;Harway, 1963;Loomis et aI., 1992;Thouless, 1931;Wagner, 1985). It is important to keep in mind, however, that most of the time, human observers are perceiving 3-D objects placed against backgrounds.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The perception of length on curved and flat surfaces

Norman

Lappin

Norman

2000

Perception & Psychophysics

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In three experiments, observers judged the apparent extents of spatial intervals along the surface of a curved cylinder or a flat plane that was binocularly viewed in a natural, indoor environment. The observers' judgments of surface lengths were precise and reliable but were also inaccurate and subject to relatively large constant errors. These distortions differed among the observers, but they tended to perceive lengths oriented along the curved dimension of the cylinder as being longer than physically equivalent lengths in the noncurved dimension. This phenomenon did not occur when the observers judged curved and noncurved paths on the flat surface. In addition, some observers' judgments of length were affected by changes in the distance to the cylinder, whereas others were affected by the cylinder's orientation in space. These results demonstrate that the perception of length on surfaces is highly dependent on the particular context in which the length occurs.Vision is primarily a system for perceiving spatial relations in the observer's environment. Its effectiveness is sufficient enough that most observers never question how it is achieved. Scientific investigations of spatial vision were begun more than 160 years ago, but many ofits basic characteristics remain poorly understood. The perception oflength is a good example.Pioneering psychophysical studies of the perception of length were conducted by Weber in the 1830s. Weber found that observers could precisely discriminate small differences in the two-dimensional (2-D) lengths of line segments, with discrimination thresholds on the order of 1%-5% (Weber, 1834(Weber, /1978. Not long afterward, Fechner studied discriminations of lengths between endpoints of compasses, Volkmann examined perceived distances between parallel threads, and both verified Weber's findings about the precision oflength discriminations (reported in Fechner, 1860(reported in Fechner, /1966. Weber, Fechner, and other 19th-century investigators also discovered that the perception of length is relative: A just discriminable inWe thank Myron Braunstein, Hal Sedgwick, and G. John Andersen for their helpful comments and suggestions regarding these experiments. We especially thank Myron Braunstein and John Andersen for suggesting a number of the manipulations included in Experiment 3, which allowed us to separate the relative effects of changes in curvature and depth on the perception oflength on real surfaces. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to 1.

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Phenomenal Regression to the Real Object. I

Cited by 167 publications

References 1 publication

How shape constancy relates to drawing accuracy.

How shape constancy relates to drawing accuracy.

The visual perception of lines on the road

The perception of length on curved and flat surfaces

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