Rod and Frame in Immediate Perception

Abstract

A version of the rod-and-frame test was developed in which subjects' initial perceptions of rod orientation were assessed without asking them to make veridical judgments. 49 women were shown rod-and-frame stimuli at an exposure time of .15 sec. They then indicated their perception of the slant of the rod by setting another rod at the apparent slant of the first rod. A significant positive correlation of 37 between this task and the standard task was found. Only subjects in the field-dependent third of the standard task distribution showed a significant effect of the frame under these conditions. The results suggest that differential performance on the standard task may reflect differences in immediate perception as well as in disembedding skill.