Mental models change rapidly with implicitly acquired information about the local environment: a two-tone image study

The projection of 3-D objects to 2-D images necessitates a loss of information, thus the shape of volumetric objects depicted in images is inherently ambiguous. The results of 3 experiments suggest observers use mental models of the local visual environment to constrain image interpretation. These models change quickly and dramatically to accommodate implicitly acquired information. Observers viewed very high-contrast (2-tone) images of novel volumetric objects. Before priming, novel 2-tone images appeared 2-D. After incidental exposure to similar objects in grayscale or familiar objects in 2-tone, the test images appeared volumetric. Incidental leaming appears to alter observers' mental models, thus causing an alteration in image interpretation in the absence of any image change. Highlights were interpreted more accurately than shadows, suggesting shadows play a secondary role in shape recovery.