Effect of Familiar Size on Judgments of Relative Size and Distance

Abstract

Carlson and Tassone (1971) found that for far viewing distances a person was judged taller in objective size, smaller in apparent size, and more distant than a board of the same size and at the same distance as the person. The purpose of this experiment was to replicate Carlson and Tassone's findings for near viewing distances. Subjects compared the size and distance of familiar and unfamiliar objects viewed from a distance of 5.3 m. The two objects were judged equal in both apparent and objective size and the familiar object was judged as more distant than the unfamiliar object. It is suggested that the distance results can best be explained in terms of the detail pattern cue rather than the familiar size cue to relative distance.