The influence of object familiarity on magnitude estimates of apparent size

Three magnitude-estimation experiments were used to determine the exponents of the power function relating size judgments and physical size for two-dimensional familiar and unfamiliar stimuli. The exponent of the power function was used to index the effect of familiar size on perceived size under a variety of conditions, from full-cue to reduced-cue viewing conditions. Although the value of the exponents varied across the three experiments, within each experiment the exponent of the familiar stimulus was not significantly different from that of the unfamiliar stimulus, indicating that familiar size does not influence the rate of growth of perceived size. The results of a fourth experiment excluded a possible explanation of the findings of experiments 1-3 in terms of subjects responding to relative angular size as a consequence of the successive presentation of the different-sized representations of the familiar stimulus. Taken together, the present findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the influence of familiar size on estimates of size mainly reflects the intrusion of nonperceptual processes in spatial responses.