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The organization of perceived space

II. Consequences of perceptual interactions

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Summary

Some consequences of the hypothesis of perceptual interactions are considered. According to this hypothesis, an independent perception (often perceived distance) is involved in determining other (dependent) perceptions, for example perceptions of size, shape, and motion, under all conditions of observation. It follows that if neural feature detectors defined by retinal receptive fields are to explain the latter perceptions, even under conditions in which these perceptions are proportional to retinal stimuli, the response of the detectors should involve or be modified by perceived distance. Most perceptual research has been concerned with the perceptual comparison of stimuli (relative perceptions). But, perceptions also have an absolute (scalar) magnitude, with this scalar aspect often involved in perceptual interactions. It is suggested that the perception of egocentric distance (sometimes modified by the specific distance tendency) can provide a reference distance for scalar perception of size and exocentric distance. Conflicts often occur between information provided by the equidistance or specific distance tendency and cues of distance. Since these observer tendencies are not a consequence of the stimuli presented, the resolution of such conflicts in the perception of distance cannot be specified completely by proximal stimuli. Thus, perceptual interactions, rather than only proximal stimuli, need to be considered in predicting the magnitude of perceptions dependent upon perceived distance. An expression of a perceptual interaction in equation form is termed a perceptual equation in contrast to a psychophysical equation. In order to validly test perceptual equations, the responses being measured must reflect perceptual, not cognitive, factors. The relation between cognitive and perceptual factors in the determination of size and distance responses was considered. The experiential development of cognitive processes as a function of perceptual errors was discussed and related to the evaluation of the validity of the size-distance invariance hypothesis.

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  1. University of California, Santa Barbara

    Walter C. Gogel

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Preparation of this paper was supported by PHS research grant number MH 15651 from the National Institute of Mental Health and PHS research grant number NS 18883 from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke.

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Gogel, W.C. The organization of perceived space. Psychol. Forsch. 36, 223–247 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00424477

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