Abstract
Pigeons discriminated the length of a bar located between two context lines. Responses to one key were reinforced when the bar was longer than a predetermined length, and those to the other key were reinforced when the bar was shorter. The inclination of the context lines was systematically varied from 54.6° (converging upward) to 125.4° (converging downward). Five out of 6 subjects tended to report “long” when the bars were located near the apex of the context lines, regardless of whether the context lines were oriented upward or downward. The magnitude of the illusion varied almost linearly with the ratio of the length of the stimulus bar to the gap between the bar and the context lines. This relationship held equally for upward- and downward-converging context lines.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Brislin, R. W. (1974). The Ponzo illusion: Additional cues, age, orientation, and culture.Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology,5, 139–161.
Brislin, R. W., &Keating, C. F. (1976). Cultural differences in the perception of a three-dimensional Ponzo illusion.Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology,7, 397–412.
Coren, S., &Girgus, J. S. (1978).Seeing is deceiving: The psychology of visual illusions. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Fineman, M. B., &Carlson, J. (1973). A comparison of the Ponzo illusion with a textural analogue.Perception & Psychophysics,14, 31–33.
Fisher, G. H. (1969). Towards a new explanation for the geometrical illusions: I. The properties of contours which induce illusory distortion.British Journal of Psychology,60, 179–185.
Fisher, G. H. (1973). Towards a new explanation for the geometrical illusions: II. Apparent depth or contour proximity?British Journal of Psychology,64, 607–621.
Fujita, K., Blough, D. S., &Blough, P. M. (1991). Pigeons see the Ponzo illusion.Animal Learning & Behavior,19, 283–293.
Gregory, R. L. (1963). Distortion of visual space as inappropriate constancy scaling.Nature,199, 678–680.
Humphrey, N. K., &Morgan, M. J. (1965). Constancy and the geometric illusions.Nature,206, 744–745.
Kilbride, P. L., &Leibowitz, H. W. (1975). Factors affecting the magnitude of the Ponzo perspective illusion among the Baganda.Perception & Psychophysics,17, 543–548.
Leibowitz, H., Brislin, R., Perlmutter, L., &Hennessy, R. (1969). Ponzo perspective illusions as a manifestation of space perception.Science,166, 1174–1176.
Newman, C. V., &Newman, B. M. (1974). The Ponzo illusion in pictures with and without suggested depth.American Journal of Psychology,87, 511–516.
Predebon, J. (1984). Age trends in the Mueller-Lyer and Ponzo illusions.British Journal of Developmental Psychology,3, 99–103.
Pressey, A. W. (1974a). Age changes in the Ponzo and filled-space illusions.Perception & Psychophysics,15, 315–319.
Pressey, A. W. (1974b). Measuring the Ponzo illusion with the method of production.Behavior Research Methods & Instrumentation,6, 424–426.
Pressey, A. W., Butchard, N., &Scrivner, L. (1971). Assimilation theory and the Ponzo illusion: Quantitative predictions.Canadian Journal of Psychology,25, 486–497.
Quina, K., &Pollack, R. H. (1972). Effects of test line position and age on the magnitude of the Ponzo illusion.Perception & Psychophysics,12, 253–256.
Smith, T. (1973). The susceptibility of Xhosa groups to a perspective illusion.Journal of Social Psychology,90, 331–332.
Wagner, D. A. (1977). Ontogeny of the Ponzo illusion: Effects of age, schooling, and environment.International Journal of Psychology,12, 161–176.
Yamagami, A. (1978). Two kinds of apparent size distortion in the Ponzo illusion.The Japanese Journal of Psychology,49, 273–279.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This work was conducted during the first author’s stay at Brown University as a Visiting Scholar, sponsored by the Fellowship Program for Japanese Scholars and Researchers to Study Abroad from the Japan Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture. The study was also supported by NSF Grant BNS 88-19876 to the second and third authors.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fujita, K., Blough, D.S. & Blough, P.M. Effects of the inclination of context lines on perception of the Ponzo illusion by pigeons. Animal Learning & Behavior 21, 29–34 (1993). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197972
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197972