PERCEIVED DEPTH BETWEEN FAMILIAR OBJECTS

HYPOTHESIZED THAT THE ESSENTIAL FACTOR IN THE SIZE CUE TO DEPTH FROM FAMILIAR OBJECTS IS THE PERCEIVED SIZE (S') PER UNIT OF RETINAL SIZE (THETA) OF EACH OF THE OBJECTS, WITH THE OBJECT HAVING THE LARGEST VALUE OF S'/THETA APPEARING TO BE THE MORE DISTANT. 5 FAMILIAR OBJECTS WERE SIMULATED, AND WERE PRESENTED IN PAIRS. OS INDICATED THEIR PERCEIVED WIDTHS (S'), THE PERCEIVED DISTANCE (D') OF EACH FROM HIMSELF, AND THE PERCEIVED DEPTH (D') BETWEEN THE OBJECTS IN EACH PAIR. IN AGREEMENT WITH THE HYPOTHESIS, THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT THE PERCEIVED DEPTH BETWEEN THE OBJECTS WAS A MONOTONIC FUNCTION OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE VALUES OF S'/THETA. THE AVERAGE VALUES OF D' AND D' WERE SIMILAR TO THE SIMULATED VALUES FOR DISTANCES UP TO 3 FT. FROM THE O. FOR GREATER DISTANCES THE ERROR IN THE AVERAGE D' AND D' VALUES INCREASED WITH THE SIMULATED DISTANCES. THE CONCEPT OF S'/THETA AS THE SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN THE FAMILIAR SIZE CUE TO DEPTH PERMITS THIS CUE SYSTEM TO BE OF SIGNIFICANCE IN A WIDE VARIETY OF NATURALLY OCCURRING SITUATIONS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1968 American Psychological Association.