| Abstract: | Five experiments demonstrated that adults can identify certain novel views of 3-dimensional model objects on the basis of knowledge of a single perspective. Geometrically irregular contour (wire) and surface (clay) objects and geometrically regular surface (pipe) objects were accurately recognized when rotated 180° about the vertical (y) axis. However, recognition accuracy was poor for all types of objects when rotated around the y-axis by 90°. Likewise, more subtle rotations in depth (i.e., 30° and 60°) induced decreases in recognition of both contour and surface objects. These results suggest that accurate recognition of objects rotated in depth by 180° may be achieved through use of information in objects' 2-dimensional bounding contours, the shapes of which remain invariant over flips in depth. Consistent with this interpretation, a final study showed that even slight rotations away from 180° cause precipitous drops in recognition accuracy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
