Height Judgments Research Articles

Height Perception Influenced by Texture Gradient

Three experiments were carried out to examine whether a texture gradient influences perception of relative object height. Previous research implicated texture cues in judgments of object width, but similar influences have not been demonstrated for relative height. In this study, I evaluate a hypothesis that the projective ratio of the number of texture elements covered by the objects combined with the ratio of the retinal object heights determines percepts of relative object height. Density of texture background was varied: four density conditions ranged from no-texture to very dense texture. In experiments 1 and 2, participants judged the height of comparison bar compared to the standard bar positioned on no-texture or textured backgrounds. Results showed relative height judgments differed with texture manipulations, consistent with predictions from a hypothesised combination of the number of texture elements with retinal height (experiment 1), or partially consistent with this hypothesis (experiment 2). In experiment 2, variations in the position of a comparison object showed that comparisons located far from the horizon were judged more poorly than in other positions. In experiment 3 I examined distance perception; relative distance judgments were found to be also affected by textured backgrounds. Results are discussed in terms of Gibson's relational theory and distance calibration theory.

Perceptual ratings of opposite spatial properties: Do they lie on the same dimension?

The issue of unidimensionality is dealt with in various research areas in the field of Psychology (e.g. conceptual spaces, semantic modeling, psychometrics) and always involves spatial modeling. An investigation of the dimensionality of opposite spatial scales (even basic) has however not yet been carried out. In this paper we look at whether opposite judgments of height, size, width and length ( high/ low, large/ small, wide/ narrow, and long/ short) imply underlying unidimensional continua. In three experiments, independent ratings for the 8 above mentioned properties were elicited with participants looking at photographic representations of various objects (Study 1), real life objects (Study 2) and spatial extensions in object-independent conditions (Study 3). Explorative and confirmative factor analysis and Andrich Extended Rating Scale Models were applied in order to determine whether the ratings referred to opposite scales on the same linear continuum. Results from the three studies consistently revealed that this is not the case. A joint analysis of the data showed interesting interactions between the spatial properties analyzed suggesting a possible explanation for the lack of unidimensionality.

Height and Construction Costs of Residential High-Rise Buildings in Shanghai

A widely recognized theme of construction economics suggests that the cost of construction per square meter increases as building height rises. However, over a number of years, research conducted regarding the height and cost issue has established a classic relationship between the two factors which can be represented by a U-shaped curve. This paper describes the study of the height-cost relationship of high-rise residential buildings in Shanghai in terms of the total construction cost and elemental costs while considering the context and commonality of buildings. This research was developed as an extension of the previous work, which examined data for buildings in Hong Kong. Initial findings indicate that the curves illustrating the relationships between height and cost of residential buildings in Shanghai and Hong Kong exhibit different profiles. The dissimilarities indicate that different sets of criteria should be applied in the judgment of height that affects cost in different locations. In terms of elemental costs, the findings suggest that there are differences in the way these costs react to changes in the building height.

A computational model of human pitch strength and height judgments

A synchronization model of pitch processing was extended to include lateral inhibition mechanisms that have been observed in the mammalian mid brain, and information integration mechanisms consistent with observed changes to response fields of mammalian auditory cortex neurons. Model parameters for the inhibition mechanisms were adapted to fit model outputs to observed temporal dynamics of pitch height difference limens from the literature. Pitch strength was defined as the certainty of pitch height judgment, and was calculated by normalizing model responses by their mean. The model was adapted to fit experimental pitch strength data reported in the literature for pure tones and harmonic complexes. It was proposed that pitch height is first estimated in relation to patterns (or templates) of tonotopic activation on the auditory nerve for particular stimulus types. These patterns are stored in long term memory. This pitch height estimation primes cortical pitch neurons to integrate finely tuned pitch information from the inferior colliculus across the periodotopic and tonotopic dimensions. Predicted pitch strength for complexes of unresolved harmonics, iterated rippled noise and amplitude modulated tones using this model also conformed to behavioral data from the literature.

Using Relative Position and Temporal Judgments to Assess the Effects of Texture and Field of View on Spatial Awareness for Synthetic Vision Systems Displays

Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) depict computer generated views of terrain surrounding an aircraft. In the assessment of textures and field of view (FOV) for SVS, no studies have directly measured the 3 levels of spatial awareness: identification of terrain, its relative spatial location, and its relative temporal location. This work introduced spatial awareness measures and used them to evaluate texture and FOV in SVS displays. Eighteen pilots made 4 judgments (relative angle, distance, height, and abeam time) regarding the location of terrain points displayed in 112 5-second, non-interactive simulations of a SVS heads down display. Texture produced significant main effects and trends for the magnitude of error in the relative distance, angle, and abeam time judgments. FOV was significant for the directional magnitude of error in the relative distance, angle, and height judgments. Pilots also provided subjective terrain awareness ratings that were compared with the judgment based measures. The study found that elevation fishnet, photo fishnet, and photo elevation fishnet textures best supported spatial awareness for both the judgments and the subjective awareness measures.

Contributions of temporal and place cues in pitch perception in absolute pitch possessors

Pitch perception is determined by both place and temporal cues. To explore whether the manner in which these cues are used differs depending on absolute pitch capability, pitch identification experiments with and without pitch references were conducted for subjects with different absolute pitch capabilities and musical experience. Three types of stimuli were used to manipulate place and temporal cues separately: narrowband noises, which provide strong place cues but less salient temporal cues; iterated rippled noises, which provide strong temporal cues but less salient place cues; and sinusoidal tones, which provide both. The results indicated that absolute pitch possessors utilize temporal cues more effectively when they identify musical chroma With regard to the judgment of height, it was indicated that place cues play an important role for both absolute and nonabsolute pitch possessors.

The Tritone Paradox and Perception of Single Octave Related Complexes

In the tritone paradox, listeners perceive octave-related complexes separated by tritones such that tones from one half of the pitch class circle are heard as higher in pitch and tones from the opposite half are heard as lower. It is theorized that listeners compare these tones to a pitch class template, which has an orientation with respect to height that differs among listeners, in making these relative height judgments. In the present experiment, listeners heard octave-related complexes presented one at a time (rather than in pairs), in addition to tone complexes separated by tritones. On the basis of the pitch-class-template theory, it was hypothesized that pitch class would have a similar influence on perceived height for both sets of stimuli and that perception of the single tones would correspond to perception of the tritone paradox. The results supported these hypotheses.

Perceived Size in Virtual Environments: The Role of Pictorial Depth Cues

Virtual two-dimensional environments attempt to represent accurate spatial information by employing redundant sources of information (e.g., linear perspective, foreshortening, aspect ratio, texture gradient, interposition, and height relative to the horizon). Under certain conditions, size constancy maintains in these displays. However, more understanding is needed about the differential effects of these cues and how they combine to support size constancy. Experiment I explored the role of linear perspective and foreshortening on size constancy by having observers make height and width judgments of objects on a receding flat “perspective” surface in which one, both, or neither cue was present. Experiment II explored the role of several different combinations of pictorial depth cues on size constancy. Overall, height judgments were more accurate than width judgments. Foreshortening was identified as an especially important cue for maintaining size constancy. However, increasing the number of pictorial depth cues present did not necessarily correspond with more veridical size perception.

Perception of single octave-related complexes in relation to the tritone paradox

In the tritone paradox, listeners are presented with a sequential pair of octave-related complexes separated by an interval of half an octave. Listeners tend to perceive these stimuli such that half of the pitch class circle is heard as higher, and the opposite half is heard as lower. It is theorized that listeners compare these tones to a circular pitch class template, having an orientation with respect to height that differs among listeners, in making these relative height judgments. In the present experiment, listeners were presented with two sets of stimuli. In the first, listeners were presented with the tritone paradox stimuli. In the second, listeners were presented with a single octave-related complex (rather than a pair of such tones) on each trial, and were asked to determine whether each tone was high or low without comparison to any other tone. An influence of pitch class on perceived height was shown for both tritone and single tone stimuli, and a significant relationship between perception of the tritone paradox and perception of the single octave-related complexes was obtained. These results are in accord with the pitch class template theory.

Association of need for cognition with judgments of height, weight, and body fat covariation.

559 college students, assessed for Need for Cognition, judged whether height, weight, and body fat were correlated using judgment probes that controlled for framing and conditional format. A principal components analysis of Need for Cognition scores identified two factors underlying the scale, which may be important in judgment outcome. In addition, judgments about correlations among height, weight, and body fat were similar to those of previous studies. Furthermore, the hypothesis that Need for Cognition would be related to the tendency to judge a negative correlation between height and body fat, i.e., a possible illusory correlation, was confirmed. Results are discussed relative to the Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion.

Integrality of nasalization and F1. II. Basic sensitivity and phonetic labeling measure distinct sensory and decision-rule interactions.

In vowel perception, nasalization and height (the inverse of the first formant, F1) interact. This paper asks whether the interaction results from a sensory process, decision mechanism, or both. Two experiments used vowels varying in height, degree of nasalization, and three other stimulus parameters: the frequency region of F1, the location of the nasal pole/zero complex relative to F1, and whether a consonant following the vowel was oral or nasal. A fixed-classification experiment, designed to estimate basic sensitivity between stimuli, measured accuracy for discriminating stimuli differing in F1, in nasalization, and on both dimensions. A configuration derived by a multidimensional scaling analysis revealed a perceptual interaction that was stronger for stimuli in which the nasal pole/zero complex was below rather than above the oral pole, and that was present before both nasal and oral consonants. Phonetic identification experiments, designed to measure trading relations between the two dimensions, required listeners to identify height and nasalization in vowels varying in both. Judgments of nasalization depended on F1 as well as on nasalization, whereas judgments of height depended primarily on F1, and on nasalization more when the nasal complex was below than above the oral pole. This pattern was interpreted as a decision-rule interaction that is distinct from the interaction in basic sensitivity. Final consonant nasality had little effect in the classification experiment; in the identification experiment, nasal judgments were more likely when the following consonant was nasal.

The domain specificity and generality of belief bias: Searching for a generalizable critical thinking skill.

The domain specificity and generality of belief-biased reasoning was examined across a height judgment task and a syllogistic reasoning task that differed greatly in cognitive requirements. Moderate correlations between belief-bias indices on these 2 tasks falsified an extreme form of the domain specificity view of critical thinking skills. Two measures of cognitive ability and 2 measures of cognitive decontextualization skill were positively correlated with belief bias in a height judgment task where prior knowledge accurately reflected an aspect of the environment and negatively correlated with belief bias in a height judgment task where prior knowledge was incongruent with the environment. Likewise, cognitive ability was associated with skill at resisting the influence of prior knowledge in the syllogistic reasoning task. Participants high in cognitive ability were able to flexibly use prior knowledge, depending upon its efficacy in a particular environment. They were more likely to project a relationship when it reflected a useful cue, but they were also less likely to project a prior belief when the belief was inefficacious.

Height, Weight, and Body Fat: Assessments of Covariation Based on Visual Information or Reported Correlations

College students' intuitive judgments about covariations between height, weight, and body fat were assessed in three experiments using responses to a series of propositional statements as the dependent variable. In Exp. 1, judgments were rendered without explicit exposure to a prior database. In Exps. 2 and 3, however, databases were studied prior to these judgments. Remarkable consistencies in judgments of weight and body fat, height and weight as well as of height and body fat were obtained across experiments. At best, there was little evidence that the databases influenced the judged covariations among these variables. Whereas judgments about weight and body fat were unambiguous and consistent with the actual positive correlation between weight and body fat, judgments about height and weight as well as height and body fat were less clearcut. What was clear, however, was that these judgments were highly similar. Implications of these findings from previous research that suggest that presence of a perceived negative correlation between height and body fat are discussed.

Recall of perpetrator height and weight by Asian and Caucasian eyewitnesses: Evidence of ethnic stereotyping

Psychologists are less concerned with the idea that eyewitnesses can be unreliable than with the question of what conditions foster reliable and unreliable descriptions and identifications (Loftus, 1979). Verbal descriptions given by witnesses typically are general rather than specific (gender, race, height, weight, hair, age) and include ranges (e.g., early to mid 30s) (Sporer, 1992; Wells, 1985: Yamey, 1979). The accuracy of the eyewitness's general description of a perpetrator is important both for the immediate investigation (O'Hara & O'Hara, [988) and for the later evalu,ation of the eyewitness evidence at triat (Visher, 1987). One factor that could influence the height and weight judgments of eyewitnesses is the perceived ethnicity of the perpetrator. Another is the ethnicity of the eyewitness. The purpose of the research presented here was to evaluate the potential influence of ethnic stereotypes and ethnically-related cognitive biases on the accuracy of height and weight estimations by Asian and Caucasia.~ eyewitnesses. Several research studies have demonstrated that stereotypic expectancies can bias the interpretation of ambiguous infommtion about others (Darley & Gross, 1983; Devine, t'989; Duncan, 1976). Hamilton, Shennan, and Ruvolo (1990) concluded that expectancies can influence the way persons process information we receive, seek additionaI information, and guide our behavioral interactions with others~ In regal proceedings, discrepancies between the verbal description of a perpetrator given by a witness and the actual physical attributes of the accused typically are taken as reason to doubt the accuracy of the eyewitness identification (Neilv. Biggers, 1972). Based on the concept of ethnic stereotyping, it was hypothesized that a perpetrator who differs from the normative height and weight of his ethnic group is likely to be recalled as being more consistent with his normative ethnic heigl;md weight. An eyewitness's beliefs about population nora,s may account tot an underestimating of aboveaverage physical characteristics of another person and an overestimating of below-average physical characteristics (Flin & Shepherd, 1986). This hypothesis predicts a general regression toward the population mean for estimations of height and weight of persons perceived to be from a given ethnic group. In addition. Flin and Shepherd (1986) found that height estimations of others were significantly related to the height of the eyewitness. In this regard, Clifford and Bull (1978) have suggested that "Perhaps the police should note down a description of the witness as well as the witness's description of the suspect." Perhaps Asian witnesses would recall others as being shorter than Caucasian witnesses simply because they themselves are shorter. To asses this possibility, the witness's own heights and weights were recorded in the present experiments with the expectation that their heights and weights would influence their perceptions and recollections of the perpetrators.

Gender and height: Developmental patterns in knowledge and use of an accurate stereotype

The belief that men are taller than women is an accurate gender stereotype that is presumably learned through everyday encounters with men and women. It is unlike most gender beliefs that are difficult to quantify and verify, and that may be learned through means other than direct experience. This research makes use of several advantages available when studying an accurate stereotype (e.g., the ability to know the “truth” about judged targets). Subjects from five different age/grade levels (kindergarten, third grade, seventh grade, tenth grade, and college, N=491, 92.26% Caucasian, 7.54% Arabic, 0.2% African American) made judgments of “who is taller” among photographed male—female pairs that had actually been matched in height. Judgments were made of kindergarten, seventh grade, and college photo pairs. In a developmental context, height judgments are particularly interesting because the gender difference in height changes at different ages—specifically, girls are taller than boys around seventh grade. The data indicated that subjects were sensitive to the changing height stereotype—i.e., they judged adult males taller than adult females, but seventh grade females taller than seventh-grade males. However this was most strikingly true among subjects directly faced with this reality in their peer context—seventh graders—and among college students. Height judgments were also sensitive to an ingroup (gender) bias. The data are discussed in reference to the broader literature on stereotyping and base rate influences on judgment.

The Effects of Dyadic Discussion on Earwitness Recall

Some 112 introductory psychology students served as subjects in a mock kidnapping study. Subjects overheard a telephone conversation by a perpetrator discussing his crime and were tested for their reconstructions of the incident either 10 min later or 48 hr later. Dyadic discussion followed by collaborative recall did not increase the overall accuracy of individual's reconstructions of the incident, but it did produce consistent, concise, and conventional accounts of the incident. Reliably, more fabrications were found in the dyadic-discussion-individual-recall group than in the recalls of the collaborative-dyad group and the no-discussion-individual-recall group. Estimations of the duration of the incident also were reliably inferior in the dyadic-discussion-individual-recall condition. Given only the voice of the perpetrator, subjects' judgments of height, weight, and age were estimated poorly. Rated descriptions of voice attributes and personality traits of the perpetrator generally were not influenced...

Information integration in an area judgment task: effect of aids on children's perceptual judgments.

This study was designed to examine the cognitive processes involved in perceptual judgments of area with the methodology and concepts of Anderson's (1981) information integration theory. The Area = Height + Width rule, which Anderson and Cuneo (1978) showed to be operant in children's judgments, can in fact cover two different processes. Children may make a height judgment and then a length judgment and apply an additive integration operation to both. Alternatively, children may base themselves on the figure outline and estimate total length directly as a function of the distance scanned. Similarly, the multiplicatory integration pattern can result either from applying a multiplicatory operation to separate estimates or from visual exploration of the area bounded by the figure. In the present experiment, the characteristics of the areas of the test figures were modified (perimeter marking, rows of Xs covering the area, etc.) to elicit additive or multiplicatory integration patterns as a function of condition. The findings demonstrate that the second interpretation of both rules is more likely.

Effects of contextual and noncontextual nasalization on perceived vowel height

Listeners' ability to separate the spectral effects of nasal coupling from those of tongue position was examined by comparing labeling responses to three continua: oral /bɛd‐baed/; contextually‐nasalized /bɛnd‐baend/; and noncontextually nasalized /bɛd‐baed/. The continua were generated by articulatory synthesis and were identical to one another in tongue position. Results showed the same percent /ɛ/ responses to the oral and contextually nasalized vowels, but significantly fewer /ɛ/ responses to the noncontextually nasalized vowels. That is, the noncontextually nasalized vowels were perceived as lower than the oral and contextually nasalized vowels. Perceptual lowering of the nasalized vowels relative to the oral vowels is consistent with upward shifts in F1 due to nasal coupling. However, the absence of a lowering effect in the contextual nasal condition needs to be explained. We propose that subjects' vowel judgments are influenced by spectral effects of nasal coupling when no conditioning environment is present. When a nasal consonant is present, these spectral effects are perceptually analyzed as due to the consonant and do not influence vowel height judgments. [Work supported by NIH grants HD‐01994 and F32‐NS‐07196, NSF grant BNS‐81‐11470.]

Effect of vocal disguise on estimations of speakers' heights and weights.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of speakers' attempts to disguise their voices on listeners' accuracy in judgments of height and weight. A total of six sentences were recorded by 26 speakers, 13 females and 13 males, under five conditions: in a normal manner (control condition) and in a manner in which they attempted to sound much taller and much shorter, as well as much heavier and much lighter than they actually were. Five master tapes were constructed, a control tape and four disguise tapes. Each tape contained a total of 156 sentences arranged in random order. A total of 40 judges, 20 in the height-estimation experiment and 20 in the weight-estimation experiment, participated in three sessions, one for each of the three master tapes (one control and two disguise tapes) in each experiment. They were asked to judge the height and weight of the speaker of each sentence and, using a seven-point confidence rating scale, to indicate the over-all confidence in their judgments at the end of each session. Although a majority of speakers yielded height and weight estimates consistent with the intended disguise conditions, the differences in listeners' estimates among all conditions were relatively small. Moreover, differences between speakers' actual heights and weights and listeners' height and weight estimates in the normal (control) condition were also relatively small. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Effect of listeners' comprehension on judgments of speakers' height and weight.

To determine the effect of listener's comprehension on speakers' height and weight judgments, a total of 40 speakers, 20 Americans (10 females and 10 males) and 20 non-Americans representing various nationalities (10 females and 10 males), recorded a standard prose passage. A total of three master tapes were constructed to represent the three experimental conditions: (1) American speakers' readings in English, (2) foreign speakers' reading in their native languages, and (3) foreign speakers' readings in English. A total of 30 judges, 15 females and 15 males, participated in three sessions, one for each of the three master tapes, and were asked to provide direct estimations of the height and weight of each speaker from the tapes. Listeners' comprehension does not appear to play a major role in height and weight judgmental tasks.