Abstract
A horizontal line (L) looks shorter with large boxes (B) at the ends than with small Bs. This illusion was measured by having Ss judge the length of L on a 6-point scale. Six different lengths of L were combined factorially with six sizes of B to form 36 stimuli, and 51 Ss made four judgments each. Mean judgment increased smoothly with L and decreased with B. Data were fitted using Adaptation-Level formulas, and the weight of B was found to be approximately 14%. However, B had almost no effect on the judgment of very short Ls.
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References
HELSON, H. Adaptation-level theory. New York: Harper & Row, 1964.
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1. This research was supported by National Science Foundation Grant GB 2848 and Public Health Service Grant MH-12541 to the senior author. The authors wish to thank David Lloyd for preparing the stimuli.
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Restle, F., Merryman, C.T. An adaptation-level theory account of a relative-size illusion. Psychon Sci 12, 229–230 (1968). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03331284
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03331284