Foreshortening increases apparent angles

The hypothesis that perspective foreshortening leads to errors in the visual perception of angles, was tested in four experiments. An oblique to a z-dimension line was presented (a) on the ground in Experiments 1 and 2, and (b) on a wall in Experiments 3 and 4. Observers judged the acute angle between the oblique and the z-line. Foreshortening increased with the oblique's distance along the z-line and, in Experiments 2 and 4, shorter distances from the eye to the ground or wall. As distance and eye-height vary, so does the target's slant to the line of sight. We argue the apparent angles between the lines increased with foreshortening because vision underestimates the fast rate of foreshortening with elevation compared with the slower rates in azimuth.