Familiar versus unfamiliar size: A theoretical derivation and test.

Relative distance judgments of familiar and unfamiliar objects viewed under representatively natural conditions

“…Yet a number of studies have shown that a normal-size object is judged to be more distant than one of unfamiliar size. This finding was first reported by Carlson and Tassone (1971) with objects (person, board) viewed from a distance of 183 m, and it was subsequently confirmed with different familiar objects I am grateful to Lisa Bell, Jennifer Braithwaite, Averil Langtry, and Monika White for running most of the subjects in Experiment 1. Correspondence may be addressed to John Predebon, Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sidney, NSW 2006, Australia. (identification card, playing card) in a study conducted indoors (Predebon, 1979a).…”

“…In contrast, in only a few studies (Carlson & Tassone, 1971;Fillenbaum, Schiffman, & Butcher, 1965;Higashiyama, 1984;Predebon, 1979aPredebon, , 1979bPredebon, , 1987 has the effect of familiar size on judgments of distance under naturalistic, unrestricted viewing conditions been investigated. In general, the results of these studies indicate that familiar size can be an effective cue to distance, although its effectiveness appears to be contingent on viewing attitude (Higashiyama, 1984) and on the method of measuring perceived distance (Predebon, 1987).…”

“…Three different explanations of Carlson and Tassone's (1971) effect have been proposed. Carlson and Tassone assume that the subjective magnitude of a given unit of physical distance becomes increasingly smaller at progressively greater distances from the viewer, and they attribute the effect to a change in the subjective distance scale.…”

“…The visual metric of a familiar object, however, is likely to attenuate response errors of underestimation, with the result that a familiar object is estimated to be at a greater distance than an unfamiliar object, even though the objects are perceived as equidistant. Finally, a third hypothesis assigns the effect to unavoidable differences in stimulus features, such as form and luminance (Carlson & Tassone, 1971) and texture detail (Predebon, 1979a), correlated with the familiar versus unfamiliar size dichotomy. Carlson and Tassone's (1971) effect is of major significance for theories of space perception.…”

“…Finally, a third hypothesis assigns the effect to unavoidable differences in stimulus features, such as form and luminance (Carlson & Tassone, 1971) and texture detail (Predebon, 1979a), correlated with the familiar versus unfamiliar size dichotomy. Carlson and Tassone's (1971) effect is of major significance for theories of space perception. Certainly, if familiar size is shown to be a determinant of perceived distance under natural viewing conditions, the effect calls into question the adequacy of stimulus-bound theories of space perception.…”