The Size Cue To Visually Perceived Distance

Vision is our most dominant sense, from which we derive most of our information about the world. From the light that enters the eye and the processing in the brain that follows we can sense where things are, how they move and what they are. The first edition of Visual Perception took a refreshingly different approach to perception, starting from the function that vision serves for an active observer in a three-dimensional environment. This fully revised and expanded new edition continues this approach in contrast to the traditional textbook treatment of vision as a catalogue of phenomena. Following a general introduction to the main theoretical approaches, the authors discuss the historical basis of our current knowledge. Placing the study of vision in its historical context, they look at how our ideas have been shaped by art, optics, biology and philosophy as well as psychology. Visual optics and the neurophysiology of vision are also described. The core of the book covers the perception of location, motion and object recognition. There is a new chapter on representation and vision, including a section on the perception of computer generated images. This readable, accessible and truly relevant introduction to the world of perception aims to elicit both independent thought and further study. It will be welcomed by students of visual perception and those with a general interest in the mysteries of vision.

This edition contains over 460 additional references and the treatment of visual psychology in the early chapters has been extensively revised.

The equidistance tendency is the tendency for objects or other inhomogeneities in the field-of-view to appear at the same distance as each other with the strength of this tendency being inversely related to directional separation. The evidence for the existence of the equidistance tendency and for its ability to modify the perceived depth resulting from size or stereoscopic cues is reviewed. The equidistance tendency is discussed as a disturbing factor in visual experimentation and as a necessary factor in the understanding of Emmert's law, the moon illusion, and similar phenomena. Several possible explanations for the equidistance tendency are evaluated in terms of the range of phenomena with which it is identified. (Author).