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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Assessment of Static Graviceptive Perception in the Roll-Plane using the Subjective Visual Vertical Paradigm
Published on: April 28, 2020
Shape, gravity, and the perception of the right angle
1Psychology Department, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20016, USA. lydia.maniatis@gmail.com
Abstract:
Past efforts to determine whether orientation-dependent sensitivity to right angles is due to retinal or environmental/gravitational frames of reference have produced conflicting conclusions. I attempt to show that the chief factor underlying this phenomenon is, rather, the shape of the object containing the angle. This shape mediates the typical orientation of the object in a ground- gravity context and the consequent force-structure of the incorporated angle-a force structure that is reflected in the percept.
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