Three-quarter views are subjectively good because object orientation is uncertain

• Published in: Psychonomic bulletin & review 2009-04, Vol.16 (2), p.289-294
• Main Authors: Niimi, Ryosuke, Yokosawa, Kazuhiko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Attention; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Brief Reports; Choice Behavior; Cognitive Psychology; Depth Perception; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Orientation; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Perception; Preferences; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Sensory Thresholds; Studies; Vision; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1069-9384; 1531-5320
• DOI: 10.3758/PBR.16.2.289

Because the objects that surround us are three-dimensional, their appearance and our visual perception of them change depending on an object’s orientation relative to a viewpoint. One of the most remarkable effects of object orientation is that viewers prefer three-quarter views over others, such as front and back, but the exact source of this preference has not been firmly established. We show that object orientation perception of the threequarter view is relatively imprecise and that this impreciseness is related to preference for this view. Human vision is largely insensitive to variations among different three-quarter views (e.g., 45° vs. 50°); therefore, the three-quarter view is perceived as if it corresponds to a wide range of orientations. In other words, it functions as the typical representation of the object.