Visual perception of dynamic properties: cue heuristics versus direct-perceptual competence.
Constructivist and Gibsonian approaches disagree over the possibility of direct perceptual use of advanced information. A trenchant instance concerns visual perception of underlying dynamic properties as specified by kinematic patterns of events. For the paradigmatic task of discrimination of relative mass in observed collisions, 2 mathematical models are developed, 1 model representing a direct, invariant-based approach, and 1 representing a cue-heuristic approach. The models enable a critical experimental design with distinct predictions concerning performance data and confidence ratings. Although pretraining results were mixed, the invariant-based model was empirically confirmed after a minimal amount of training: Competence entails the use of advanced kinematic information in a direct-perceptual ("sensory") mode of apprehension, in contrast to beginners' use of simpler cues in an inferential ("cognitive") mode.
Runeson
S
S
Department of Psychology, University of Uppsala, Sweden. sverker.runeson@psyk.uu.se
Juslin
P
P
Olsson
H
H
D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D008606:Mental Processes; D008960:Models, Psychological; D014796:Visual Perception