The apparent and effective dimensionality of representations of objects

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Information Visualization

Background:

• Information displays frequently use 2-D and 3-D objects to represent 1-D numerical data.
• The nonlinear relationship between perceived and physical magnitudes for areas and volumes can lead to problematic data interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether apparent 2-D and 3-D objects can yield linear psychophysical functions.
• To determine how object dimensionality affects processing time and accuracy in data perception.
• To provide design guidelines for effective information displays.

Main Methods:

• Participants judged the magnitude of 1-D numerical variables represented by 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D objects.
• The study manipulated the number of varying dimensions within the objects.
• Processing time and accuracy were recorded for each object type and variation condition.

Main Results:

• Apparent 2-D and 3-D objects produced linear psychophysical functions when only one dimension varied.
• Processing time increased with the number of varying dimensions, not apparent dimensionality.
• Apparent 3-D objects with a single varying dimension were processed faster than 2-D or 1-D objects.

Conclusions:

• Varying a single dimension in 3-D objects can achieve linear perception, challenging existing models of size perception.
• Designers should avoid using multi-dimensionally varying objects for single numerical variables in information displays.
• Optimizing information displays for accurate and rapid data judgment requires careful consideration of object dimensionality and variation.