Background Surface and Horizon Effects in the Perception of Relative Size and Distance

The projected height of an object in a scene relative to a ground surface influences its perceived size and distance, but the effect of height should change when the object is moved above the horizon. In four experiments, observers judged relative size or relative distance for pairs of objects varying in height with respect to the horizon. Higher objects equal in projected size were judged larger below the horizon, but the relative size effect was reversed either when one object was on the horizon and one was above the horizon or when both objects were above the horizon. With the real horizon not explicitly present in the display, relative size judgments were affected both by the boundary of the visible surface and the vanishing point implied by the converging lines. For relative distance judgments, the higher object was judged more distant regardless of the height of the objects relative to the perceptual horizon, resulting in a reversal of the relation between size and distance judgments for objects above the horizon.