Pr. Delucia et R. Warren, PICTORIAL AND MOTION-BASED DEPTH INFORMATION DURING ACTIVE CONTROL OFSELF-MOTION - SIZE ARRIVAL EFFECTS ON COLLISION-AVOIDANCE, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance, 20(4), 1994, pp. 783-798
With computer simulations of self-motion, Ss controlled their altitude
as they approached a floating object and, after getting as close as p
ossible to the object, tried to ''jump'' over it without collision. Ss
jumped significantly later for small objects, compared with larger ob
jects that were approached from equal distances at equal speeds and we
re positioned at equal clearance heights. This occurred even when accr
etion-deletion information was present and when object width and lengt
h were varied independently. Results were consistent with studies in w
hich Ss judged a large far approaching object to hit the viewpoint bef
ore a small near object that would have arrived sooner (P. R. DeLucia,
1991a, 1991b). Results suggest that pictorial information such as rel
ative size contributes to active collision-avoidance tasks and must be
considered in models of perceived distance and time-to-arrival.