Evolved navigation theory and the descent illusion

Abstract

Researchers often assume that height perception results from all of the same mechanisms as does other distance perception. Evolved navigation theory (ENT) proposes that natural selection has differentiated some psychological processes, including height perception, in response to the navigational outcome of falling. We tested predictions from three theories in two experiments. Only ENT predicted greater height perceived from the top than from the bottom of a vertical surface (because descent results in falls more often than does ascent). Participants across experiments perceived an average of 32% greater vertical distance when viewing from the top than when viewing from the bottom. We discuss selected implications and suggest ENT for uniting isolated findings, including the vertical-horizontal illusion.