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The perception of length on curved and flat surfaces

Perception & Psychophysics volume 62, pages 1133–1145 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

In three experiments, observers judged the apparent extents of spatial intervals along the surface of a curved cylinder or a flat plane that was binocularly viewed in a natural, indoor environment. The observers’ judgments of surface lengths were precise and reliable but were also inaccurate and subject to relatively large constant errors. These distortions differed among the observers, but they tended to perceive lengths oriented along the curved dimension of the cylinder as being longer than physically equivalent lengths in the noncurved dimension. This phenomenon did not occur when the observers judged curved and noncurved paths on the flat surface. In addition, some observers’ judgments of length were affected by changes in the distance to the cylinder, whereas others were affected by the cylinder’s orientation in space. These results demonstrate that the perception of length on surfaces is highly dependent on the particular context in which the length occurs.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Western Kentucky University, 42101, Bowling Green, KY

    J. Farley Norman & Hideko F. Norman

  2. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

    Joseph S. Lappin

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  1. J. Farley Norman
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  2. Joseph S. Lappin
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  3. Hideko F. Norman
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Correspondence to J. Farley Norman.

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Norman, J.F., Lappin, J.S. & Norman, H.F. The perception of length on curved and flat surfaces. Perception & Psychophysics 62, 1133–1145 (2000). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212118

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212118

Keywords

  • Constant Error
  • Actual Length
  • Weber Fraction
  • Viewing Distance
  • Equivalent Length