The Rod-and-Frame Effect: The Whole is Less than the Sum of its Parts

Abstract

Since the discovery of the influence of the tilted frame on the visual perception of the orientation perceived as vertical (VPV), the frame has been treated as a unitary object—a Gestalt. We evaluated the effect of 1-line, 2-line, 3-line, and 4-line (square frame) stimuli of two different sizes, and asked whether the influence of the square frame on VPV is any greater than the additive combination of separate influences produced by the individual lines constituting the frame. We found that, for each size, the square frame is considerably less influential than the additive combination of the influences of the individual lines. The results conform to a mass action rule, in which the lengths and orientations of the individual line components are what matters and the organization of the lines into a square does not—no higher-level Gestalt property is involved in the induction effect on VPV.