Scaling apparent distance in natural indoor settings

Teghtsoonian, Martha; Teghtsoonian, Robert

doi:10.3758/bf03332689

Cited by 55 publications

(34 citation statements)

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“…The distance estimates obtained for the short-distance condition are consistent with the study of Kiinnapas (1968), but not with studies ofM. Teghtsoonian and R. Teghtsoonian (1969) and Wiest and Bell (1985), who have noted that the exponent may be slightly larger than unity.…”

Section: Short Indoor Distancesupporting

confidence: 78%

How accurate is size and distance perception for very far terrestrial objects? Function and causality

Higashiyama

Shimono

1994

Perception & Psychophysics

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This study investigated absolute estimation of size and distance for natural and artificial objects at viewing distances of 1.1-15.3 km (Experiments 1 and 2) and 0.4-5.0 m (Experiment 3). The main results were that, regardless of distance range, size and distance estimates (S' and D') were related to objective size and distance (S and D), respectively, by a power function with an exponent of unity, but great individual differences in exponent were obtained for the far objects. The ratio S'ID' was reasonably represented by S'ID' = KO n and S'ID' = tan(aO+b), rather than S'ID' = tanO, where 0 is the visual angle. Partial correlations were obtained to examine whether (1) apparent size is determined by taking apparent distance into account or (2) both apparent size and apparent distance are determined directly by external stimuli. The combined data for the far objects and the data for the close objects showed that there were high correlations between Sand S' and between D and D' and a low correlation between D' and S'. The data of Experiment 2 showed that both D' and S' were highly correlated with S, D, and 0, and there was a high positive correlation between D' and S', It was suggested that the direct-perception model is valid under some situations, but the taking-into-account model is not supported in any set of data.In this study, we investigated perception of the size of and distance of very far objects. The perception of size and distance may not be correctly achieved for celestial objects such as the moon, the sun, and a constellation. For example, estimates of the size and distance of the moon may not be exact if you are not an astronomer. Some authors have indeed assumed that there is a perceptible maximal distance, beyond which any object is perceived to be at a constant distance and distance is not discriminated at all (Gilinsky, 1951;Indow, 1991;Luneburg, 1947;Nishi, 1930). Others have assumed that size constancy does not hold for very far objects and that the visual system tends to respond to the visual angle, rather than the distal size, of the object (Higashiyama, 1992).How do we perceive size and distance for very far terrestrial objects? In this study, we report three experiments.We would like to express our appreciation to Captain Matsumura and the crews of Shiojimaru, who traveled across Tokyo Bay in Experiment 2. We would like to thank John C. Baird, Hal A. Sedgwick. and Myron L. Braunstein for their useful comments on the earlier manuscript. and thank an anonymous reviewer for his or her help in improving the English expressions. A. Higashiyama's mailing address is: Institute of Human Sciences, College of Integrated Arts and Sciences, University of Osaka Prefecture, Sakai 593, Japan. K. Shimono's mailing address is: Social Sciences Laboratory, Tokyo University of Mercantile Marine, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135, Japan.We first sought to specify the distance range over which the accurate perception of size and distance would be maintained. In Experiments 1 and 2, subjects estimated absolute size and distan...

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Section: Short Indoor Distancesupporting

confidence: 78%

How accurate is size and distance perception for very far terrestrial objects? Function and causality

Higashiyama

Shimono

1994

Perception & Psychophysics

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“…The estimates of β derived from Equation 12, on the other hand, are fairly constant as the range varies, for both the loudness and distance experiments. For example, the column for β shows that the estimates of loudness are all around 0.67, which was Stevens's (later) estimate of the loudness exponent, whereas the distance exponents are all around 1.2 (Teghtsoonian & Teghtsoonian, 1969, noted that the exponent for indoor distance appears to be greater than 1.0). Thus, Table 2 shows that, although the exponents for Stevens's power law vary systematically with the stimulus range, the corrected exponents do not.…”

Section: Range Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On bias in magnitude scaling and some conjectures of Stevens

DeCarlo

2005

Perception & Psychophysics

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“…A number of studies (Baird & Wagner, 1982;Cook, 1978;Da Silva, 1983, 1985Galanter & Galanter, 1973;Kuroda, 1971;Ohno, 1972;M. Teghtsoonian & R. Teghtsoonian, 1969;R.…”

Section: Scales For Perceived Distancementioning

confidence: 99%

The perception of vertical and horizontal distances in outdoor settings

Higashiyama

Ueyama

1988

Perception & Psychophysics

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In three experiments, perceived vertical and horizontal distances in outdoor settings were investigated. Horizontal distances were adjusted by 70 subjects to make them appear equal to vertical distances ranging from 2 to 47 m. The results showed that (1) the matched horizontal distance is represented as a linear function of vertical distance; (2) the slope of the linear function is generally larger than unity, suggesting that when vertical distance is physically equal to horizontal distance, vertical distance appears larger than horizontal distance; (3) physiological muscular variables such as eye, head, and body position are not crucial in judging vertical and horizontal distances; (4) vertical distance of a building appears larger when viewed from afar than when viewed from nearby. 151The purpose of this study was to determine whether, in outdoor settings, horizontal distance or vertical distance would appear to be longer. We refer to horizontal distance as the distance along the ground surface and vertical distance as the distance along the direction of gravity . An example of horizontal distance is the distance from an observer to a building, and an example of vertical distance is the height of the building. Figure I shows four different viewing positions from which comparisons of vertical and horizontal distances can be made. Figure la illustrates the look-up condition, with the subject standing near the base of the building; Figure lb illustrates the look-at condition, with the subject standing on the ground away from the building; Figure lc illustrates the look-down condition, with the subject on the roof or a floor of the building looking down at the ground; Figure Id illustrates the Iie-down condition, with the subject lying on his/her back near the base of the building.A number of studies have been performed under the look-up and lie-down conditions. Morinaga (1935) showed that for a vertical standard distance of 1 m in the look-up condition, the matched horizontal distance increased by 4 % to 14% and did not change substantially with the position of eye and head. Makishita (1947, Experiment 1) determined equidistant curves as a function of elevation angle in the look-up condition, and showed that the matched vertical distance was smaller than the matched horizontal distance. Osaka (1947) demonstrated that for vertical standard distances of 4 to 12 m, the matched horizontal distance increased by 12%to 21 %in the lookup condition, but that this trend disappeared when the sub-

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Scaling apparent distance in natural indoor settings

Cited by 55 publications

References 8 publications

How accurate is size and distance perception for very far terrestrial objects? Function and causality

How accurate is size and distance perception for very far terrestrial objects? Function and causality

On bias in magnitude scaling and some conjectures of Stevens

The perception of vertical and horizontal distances in outdoor settings

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