Abstract
It was hypothesized that when two surfaces at different angles of slant were presented stereoscopically, the resulting percept would be a single slanted surface seen at an angle equal to the mean slant of the stimulus objects. Fifteen Ss were tested on the Groman binocular disparator under 15 different conditions of disparity, ranging from −20 deg to +20 deg. Ten judgments were made for each condition in a random order. The stimulus cards were two 3 × 4 in. white cards ruled into ½-in. squares. Each exposure was 2 sec in duration. Following exposure E manipulated a test card until S indicated that it was at the same angle as the preceding perceived slant. The results strongly supported the hypothesis. They were discussed in terms of a gradient theory of slant perception and a neurophysiological averaging mechanism.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
BERGMAN, R., & GIBSON, J. J. The negative after-effect of the perception of a surface slanted in the third dimension. American Journal of Psychology, 1959, 72, 364–374.
CLARK, W. C., SMITH, A. H., & RABE, A. Retinal gradients of outline distortion and binocular disparity as stimuli for slant. Canadian Journal of Psycholosy, 1956, 10, 77–81.
EPSTEIN, W., & PARK, J. Examination of Gibson’s psychophysical hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 1964, 62, 180–196.
FLOCK, H. R. Three theoretical views of slant perception. Psychological Bulletin, 1964, 62, 110–121.
FREEMAN, R. B., JR. Absolute threshold for visual slant: The effect of stimulus size and retinal perspective. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1966, 71, 170–176.
GIBSON, J. J. The perception of visual surfaces. American Journal of Psychology, 1950a, 63, 367–384.
GIBSON, J. J. The perception of the visual world. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1950b.
GIBSON, J. J. The concept of the stimulus in psychology. American Psychologist, 1960, 16, 694–703.
GROMAN, W. D. Orientation, stimulus pattern, and head-eye position as determinants of cognitive and experiential aspects of perceived slant. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Duke University, 1962.
GROMAN, W. D. An apparatus for presenting continuously varying binocularly disparate views of an apparently single object. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1964, 16, 184–186.
OGLE, K. N. Precision and validity of stereoscopic depth perception from double images. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 1953, 43, 906–913.
SMITH, A. H. Judgment of slant with constant outline convergence and variable surface texture gradient. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 1964, 18, 869–875.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Groman, W.D., Worsham, R.W. Some evidence for a visual slant averaging mechanism. Psychon Sci 21, 221–223 (1970). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03332452
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03332452