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Distance perception in natural scene images generalize across individuals, tasks, and viewing time
Prachi Mahableshwarkar1, Lindsay Houck2, John Philbeck1
1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, George Washington University.
Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
|March 27, 2025
Summary
This study reveals that the brain rapidly uses visual cues in natural scenes, like ground plane size, to estimate object distances. These scene-specific spatial perceptions generalize across different tasks and viewing times.
Area of Science:
- Visual perception
- Cognitive psychology
- Computational neuroscience
Background:
- Natural scenes offer complex visual cues for spatial perception.
- Isolating scene-specific spatial representations is challenging.
- Understanding rapid integration of pictorial information is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify scene-specific spatial representations in natural images.
- To investigate generalization of these representations across tasks and durations.
- To identify pictorial features driving spatial perception.
Main Methods:
- 156 natural scene images presented at varying durations (125-1000 ms).
- Participants performed egocentric distance estimation and discrimination tasks.
- Preregistered behavioral studies with independent participant groups.
Main Results:
- Participants accurately estimated object distance from single-view scenes.
- Scene-specific spatial deviations predicted behavior in other tasks.
- The size of the ground plane significantly explained these deviations.
Conclusions:
- A rapid mechanism integrates pictorial information for distance perception.
- Scene context plays a vital role in spatial awareness.
- Visual system efficiently extracts spatial information from natural images.
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