Effects of Colored Light, Color of Comparison Stimulus, and Illumination on Error in Perceived Depth with Binocular and Monocular Viewing

Abstract

Two experiments assessed the effects of colored light, color of a comparison stimulus, and illumination on error in perceived depth with binocular and monocular vision. Exp. 1 assessed effects of colored light, color of comparison stimulus, and source of depth cues on error in perceived depth. A total of 29 women and 19 men, Taiwanese college or graduate students ages 20 to 30 years ( M = 24.0, SD = 2.5) participated; they were randomly divided into five groups, each being assigned to one of five possible colored light conditions. Analyses showed color of the comparison stimulus significantly affected the error in perceived depth, as this error was significantly greater for a red comparison stimulus than for blue and yellow comparison stimuli. Colored light significantly affected error in perceived depth since error under white and yellow light was significantly less than that under green light. Moreover, error in perceived depth under white light was significantly less than that under blue light but not sensitive to white, yellow, and red light. Error in perceived depth for binocular viewing was significantly less than that for monocular viewing but not sex. In Exp. 2, the effect of illumination on error in perceived depth was explored with 21 women and 15 men, Taiwanese college students with a mean age of 19.8 yr. ( SD = 1.1). Analysis indicated that illumination significantly affected error in perceived depth, as error for a 40-W condition was significantly greater than under 20- and 60-W conditions, although the latter were not different.