Magnitude estimates of distance based on object-size

Abstract

At a fixed distance of 1.5 ft., varying sizes of vertical lines or circles were presented to S.Subjects estimated either apparent size or distance based on relative size. Estimates of line height and circle diameter yielded power functions with exponents of 0.97 and 0.98, respectively. Distance estimates were curvilinearly related to distance predicted from the size/distance ratio. This result is discussed in terms of non-Euclidean space and in relation to the nature of the judgmental task.