Gagnier Kristin Michod, Shipley Thomas F
Science of Learning Institute, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218-2685 USA.
Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center, Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122 USA.
Cogn Res Princ Implic. 2016;1(1):9. doi: 10.1186/s41235-016-0010-y. Epub 2016 Sep 22.
Accurately inferring three-dimensional (3D) structure from only a cross-section through that structure is not possible. However, many observers seem to be unaware of this fact. We present evidence for a 3D amodal completion process that may explain this phenomenon and provide new insights into how the perceptual system processes 3D structures. Across four experiments, observers viewed cross-sections of common objects and reported whether regions visible on the surface extended into the object. If they reported that the region extended, they were asked to indicate the orientation of extension or that the 3D shape was unknowable from the cross-section. Across Experiments 1, 2, and 3, participants frequently inferred 3D forms from surface views, showing a specific to report that regions in the cross-section extend straight back into the object, with little variance in orientation. In Experiment 3, we examined whether 3D visual inferences made from cross-sections are similar to other cases of amodal completion by examining how the inferences were influenced by observers' knowledge of the objects. Finally, in Experiment 4, we demonstrate that these systematic visual inferences are unlikely to result from demand characteristics or response biases. We argue that these 3D visual inferences have been largely unrecognized by the perception community, and have implications for models of 3D visual completion and science education.
仅通过结构的一个横截面准确推断三维（3D）结构是不可能的。然而，许多观察者似乎并未意识到这一事实。我们提供了一个3D无模态完成过程的证据，该过程可能解释了这一现象，并为感知系统如何处理3D结构提供了新的见解。在四个实验中，观察者观看常见物体的横截面，并报告表面上可见的区域是否延伸到物体内部。如果他们报告该区域延伸了，就会被要求指出延伸的方向，或者指出从横截面无法得知3D形状。在实验1、2和3中，参与者经常从表面视图推断出3D形式，表现出一种特定的倾向，即报告横截面中的区域直接延伸到物体内部，方向变化很小。在实验3中，我们通过研究这些推断如何受到观察者对物体的了解的影响，来检验从横截面进行的3D视觉推断是否与无模态完成的其他情况相似。最后，在实验4中，我们证明这些系统性的视觉推断不太可能是由需求特征或反应偏差导致的。我们认为，这些3D视觉推断在很大程度上未被感知学界所认识，并且对3D视觉完成模型和科学教育具有启示意义。
