Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 1, 2026

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings
Published on: August 1, 2018
Visual perception in a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus): Successful recognition of 2-D objects rotated in the
Caroline M DeLong1, Wendi Fellner2, Kenneth Tyler Wilcox1
1Department of Psychology.
Abstract:
Aquatic species such as bottlenose dolphins can move in 3 dimensions and frequently view objects from different orientations. This study examined their ability to identify 2-D objects visually despite changes in orientation across 2 rotation planes. A dolphin performed a matching-to-sample task in which a sample was presented at a different orientation from its match in a 3-alternative choice array. Samples were presented at 6 aspect angles in the picture plane (0°, ±45°, ±135°, 180°) and 6 aspect angles in the depth plane (0°, -45°, ±90°, +135°, 180°). Alternatives were always presented at 0°. Performance was significantly better than chance for all aspect angles in both rotation plane tests. There was a significant linear decline in accuracy as the sample object was rotated from 0° toward 180° in the picture plane. Performance with familiar objects (M = 97.1%) exceeded performance with novel objects (M = 76.9%). In the depth plane rotation test, there was a significant quadratic trend in accuracy as the sample object was rotated from 0° toward 180°, in which performance was significantly lower at ±90° than at all other orientations. Performance in the picture plane where all object features were available irrespective of orientation was significantly better than performance in the depth plane where the availability of visible features were dependent upon orientation (M = 81.2% vs. M = 63.0%). The dolphin's performance in this study shows evidence of both viewpoint-independent and viewpoint-dependent processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Related Concept Videos
Depth Perception and Spatial Vision
Parallel Processing
Gestalt Principles of Perception
Vision
Perception of Sound Waves
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same...
Perceptual Constancy
Size constancy is the recognition that an object remains the same size, even when its image on the retina changes. For instance, a bus is perceived to be large enough to carry people, even if it looks tiny from...

