Monocular Cues

Monocular cues are things that can provide depth from viewing a scene with only one eye.

Perspective is one example of a monocular cue.  Seeing two parallel lines that converge in the distance , at the horizon, gives people to judge approximately how far something along those lines is.

Another Monocular cue is relative size.  The two boats above are different sizes.  This gives the perception of depth, due to the fact that objects look further away the further they get.  Painters use advantage of this to make their paintings look realistic.

Binocular Cues

Binocular cues occur due to the position of the eyes on the face of most animals.  Taking two images from slightly different angles allows the creature to triangulate the location of the item with high accuracy.  This is also known as stereopsis.

This can be demonstrated in autostereograms, or magic eye images.  By focusing on a 2-D image, you can trick your brain into seeing depth.  This random dot image has a shark raised off of the page.

Figure-Ground Perspective

Figure-Ground Perception is identifying a figure from the background of an image, often a two-color image.

This image is an example of Figure-Ground perspective.  If you look at the black, the figure, you see a person offering their hand out.  However, if you look at the background, the white, you see a face's outline.

Perceptual Constancies- Law of Brightness Constancy

The law of brightness constancy is our ability to realize that color stays the same under widely different conditions of illumination.

 

 

This is a good example of brightness constancy because it shows the same person wearing the same clothes in the day time and night time.  We are able to recognize that although there was a change in lighting, the colors of the clothes/person are still the same.

Perceptual Constancies- Law of Shape Constancy

The law of shape constancy occurs when our brain looks at the same object from different angles and still knows that it is the same object.

This picture is an example of shape constancy because we can understand that the quarter is still the same object when the side is shown.

This is another example of an object that is shown from different perspectives.  We are still able to tell that it is the same object every time.

Perceptual Constancies- Law of Size Constancy

The law of size constancy occurs when we percieve objects as having a constant size, even if the objects are at different distances. 

Example:

This photo represents size constancy because even though the people further along the trail appear smaller, our brains recognize that they are actually relatively the same size as the other people.

Law of Proximity

Law of Proximity

Our minds group objects together that are near each other.

Dot Example 1

We see 5 separate dots on the left. We see a pyramid of 5 dots in a group on the left. The dots on the left are close to each other which is why we group them together. There is quite a bit of space between the ones on the left which is why they look like they are individual.

Dot Example 2

We see three groups of dots. This is because there are big separations in certain place, and some dots are closer than others.