Errors in the making and perception of art images of human gait: Psychological explanations.

Abstract

Paintings, drawings, and sculptures from ancient art to the present reveal a curious error in the portrayal of human gait. In natural human gait the arm and leg on 1 side of the body swing in opposite directions to each other-contralaterally. The error is to depict the arm and leg on the same side of the body as if swinging in the same direction-homolaterally. In the first section, pictorial evidence is presented to show that artists throughout centuries have frequently made the error. It has been largely unnoticed by art historians and nonexpert viewers, and has been perpetuated in "how to draw" instructional manuals. Next, empirical studies are reported. The first 2 studies show that recognition of the error by viewers is no better than chance; the third shows that people often produce the error when posing as if running. The final sections offer psychological explanations for this phenomenon and draw conclusions that synthesize them. Crucial future research is outlined, and ideas are presented for education that might curtail continuance of the error.