Judgments of Distance under Partially Reduced Cues

Abstract

This study tested the effects of emptiness of space and contrast on estimates of distance. Judgments of the distance of 4-in. square targets were obtained (1) in well lit, everyday surroundings, (2) in the middle of a large, featureless gymnasium, and (3) under almost completely reduced cues. Distances were accurately estimated under the first condition and were increasingly overestimated in the latter two conditions. Distance-estimates obtained as a function of target-contrast, however, were somewhat inconclusive, although most Ss tended to judge the low-contrast target to be farther away. There appeared, however, to be an interaction effect—particularly with the white surround—such that Ss who judged distant targets to be farther away when they were of low contrast, tended to judge nearby targets farther away when they were of high contrast, and vice-versa.