Human visual perception is a fundamentally relational process: Lightness perception depends on luminance ratios, and depth perception depends on occlusion (difference of depth) cues. Neurons in low-level visual cortex are sensitive to the difference (but not the value itself) of signals, and these differences have to be used to reconstruct the…

Five- and 7-month-old infants' sensitivity to the pictorial depth cue of height-in-the-picture-plane was assessed. Infants were presented with 2 objects, 1 higher than the other, and their reaching was recorded under monocular and binocular viewing conditions. The results showed that both age groups reached significantly more to the lower,…

The explanation of certain 3D concepts is based on 2D drawings. These drawings should contain certain depth cues, such as perspective and overlapping. Until recently, parallax has not been used as a depth cue. Nevertheless, new technologies allow it to be incorporated. This forms the background to our study of the design of interactive educational…

Marked gender differences in three-dimensional mental rotation have been broadly reported in the literature in the last few decades. Various theoretical models and accounts were used to explain the observed differences. Within the framework of linking item design features of mental rotation tasks to cognitive component processes associated with…

A developmental study of the relation between apparent size and pictorial depth demonstrated the usefulness of operant techniques in establishing equivalent differential responding and interesting stimulus equivalence in adults, 9- and 3-year-olds. (Author/AJ)

Three groups of Nigerian high school and college students were tested for response to four pictorial depth cues. Students had more difficulty with cues concerning the relative size of objects and the foreshortening of straight lines than with cues involving overlap of lines and distortion of the angles between lines. (Author/JEG)

One aim of the present study was to assess the role of elevation alone on children's perception of pictorial depth. (Author)

Several investigations have shown that young infants perceive the unity of a center-occluded object when the visible ends of the object undergo common motion but not when the object remains stationary. This study is an extension of earlier investigations on object unity in that it assesses amodal completion of stationary circles in which one half…

Examines the use of pictures by different learners in different ways, and presents guidelines for using pictures in teaching culturally diverse children. The degree of complexity versus simplicity is discussed, the need for effective directional cues is emphasized, and depth and motion cues are described. (LRW)

This article describes the physiological mechanisms involved in three-dimensional depth perception and presents a variety of distance and depth cues and strategies for detecting and estimating curbs and steps for individuals with impaired vision. (Author/DB)

Sixty-four infants viewed side-by-side videotapes of toy trains (in four visual conditions) and listened to sounds at increasing or decreasing amplitude designed to match one of the videos. Results suggested that five-month olds were sensitive to auditory-visual distance relations and that change in size was an important visual depth cue. (MDM)

Investigates the effect of orientation of depth cues on the magnitude of perceived depth in pictures. Finds that, for each test drawing, the orientation with the far point above the near point provided greater depth perception than any other orientation. Discusses possible contributions of observer experience and height of visual field. (DSK)

Young children drew two opaque objects placed one behind the other. Over two-thirds of the children drew the objects separately in horizontal or vertical relationships. When drawing an object in a glass beaker, half of the children depicted the object vertically or horizontally separate from the beaker. (Author/DB)