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Gravitational acceleration as a cue for absolute size and distance?When an object's motion is influenced by gravity, as in the rise and fall of a thrown ball, the vertical component of acceleration is roughly constant at 9.8 m/sec2. In principle, an observer could use this information to estimate the absolute size and distance of the object (Saxberg, 1987a; Watson, Banks, von Hofsten, & Royden, 1992). In five experiments, we examined people's ability to utilize the size and distance information provided by gravitational acceleration. Observers viewed computer simulations of an object rising and falling on a trajectory aligned with the gravitational vector. The simulated objects were balls of different diameters presented across a wide range of simulated distances. Observers were asked to identify the ball that was presented and to estimate its distance. The results showed that observers were much more sensitive to average velocity than to the gravitational acceleration pattern. Likewise, verticality of the motion and visibility of the trajectory's apex had negligible effects on the accuracy of size and distance judgments.
Document ID
20040173123
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Hecht, H.
(Universitat Bielefeld Germany)
Kaiser, M. K.
Banks, M. S.
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
October 1, 1996
Publication Information
Publication: Perception & psychophysics
Volume: 58
Issue: 7
ISSN: 0031-5117
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
NASA Discipline Space Human Factors
NASA Center ARC

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