Apparent distance as a function of familiar size.

Many natural materials have complex, multi-scale structures. Consequently, the apparent identity of a surface can vary with the assumed spatial scale of the scene: a plowed field seen from afar can resemble corduroy seen up close. We investigated this ‘material-scale ambiguity’ using 87 photographs of diverse materials (e.g., water, sand, stone, metal, wood). Across two experiments, separate groups of participants (N = 72 adults) provided judgements of the material depicted in each image, either with or without manipulations of apparent distance (by verbal instructions, or adding objects of familiar size). Our results demonstrate that these manipulations can cause identical images to appear to belong to completely different material categories, depending on the perceived scale. Under challenging conditions, therefore, the perception of materials is susceptible to simple manipulations of apparent distance, revealing a striking example of top-down effects in the interpretation of image features.

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Graduate School of Business Administration. Apparent distance: binocular vergence and target size. (1942; Publ. Bd. No. L 62429.).

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e471892004-001 ◽

1947 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Graduate School ◽

Apparent Distance ◽

Business Administration ◽

Target Size

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Apparent distance displacement of a sound in space

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e572342012-134 ◽

1964 ◽

Author(s):

Robert A. Butler ◽

Ralph F. Naunton

Keyword(s):

Apparent Distance

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(VS-107)POSITION CONSTANCY, ACCOMMODATION, AND APPARENT DISTANCE

Optometry and Vision Science ◽

10.1097/00006324-200012001-00375 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 77 (SUPPLEMENT) ◽

pp. 235

Author(s):

Kay Fisher ◽

Glen McCormack

Keyword(s):

Apparent Distance ◽

Position Constancy

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How much do visual cues help listeners in perceiving accented speech?

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716418000462 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

pp. 93-109

Author(s):

YI ZHENG ◽

ARTHUR G. SAMUEL

Keyword(s):

Visual Information ◽

Visual Cues ◽

Nonnative Speakers ◽

Apparent Distance ◽

Native English Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Accented Speech ◽

Compressed Speech ◽

Degraded Speech

AbstractIt has been documented that lipreading facilitates the understanding of difficult speech, such as noisy speech and time-compressed speech. However, relatively little work has addressed the role of visual information in perceiving accented speech, another type of difficult speech. In this study, we specifically focus on accented word recognition. One hundred forty-two native English speakers made lexical decision judgments on English words or nonwords produced by speakers with Mandarin Chinese accents. The stimuli were presented as either as videos that were of a relatively far speaker or as videos in which we zoomed in on the speaker’s head. Consistent with studies of degraded speech, listeners were more accurate at recognizing accented words when they saw lip movements from the closer apparent distance. The effect of apparent distance tended to be larger under nonoptimal conditions: when stimuli were nonwords than words, and when stimuli were produced by a speaker who had a relatively strong accent. However, we did not find any influence of listeners’ prior experience with Chinese accented speech, suggesting that cross-talker generalization is limited. The current study provides practical suggestions for effective communication between native and nonnative speakers: visual information is useful, and it is more useful in some circumstances than others.

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Familiar Size and Subception in Perceived Depth

The Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1080/00223980.1953.9712899 ◽

1953 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 341-345 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Carol Barnes Hochberg ◽

Julian E. Hochberg

Keyword(s):

Familiar Size

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The Effect of Familiar Size at Familiar Distances

Perception ◽

10.1068/p110085 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 85-91 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Virginia Fitzpatrick ◽

Robert Pasnak ◽

Zita E Tyer

Keyword(s):

Retinal Image ◽

Direct Determination ◽

Familiar Object ◽

Size Perception ◽

Familiar Size ◽

True Distance ◽

Distance Judgments ◽

Familiar Objects

The effect of familiar size as a distance cue was tested with familiar objects at familiar distances. Experiment 1 showed that there were no uncontrolled distance cues available and that in their absence the retinal image did not affect depth or size perception. Under these conditions, size and distance judgments were essentially indeterminate and independent of each other. In experiment 2 a paradigm was employed which allowed a direct determination of whether equivalent changes either in size of a familiar object or in its true distance produced equivalent changes in its perceived distance. The results showed that there were no uncontrolled distance cues, and that subjects perceived the familiar object as having its familiar size. Moreover, changing the retinal image of the objects had almost exactly the same effect on their perceived distance as did changing their true distance. Hence, familiar size does effectively govern the perception of distance when there are no competing cues.

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