Bremner J G
Perception. 1984;13(2):117-28. doi: 10.1068/p130117.
Children distort angular figures so that the constituent angles are nearer 90 degrees than they should be. This could be due to a perpendicular bias or a bisection bias, or to both. A study is reported which was designed to establish whether a perpendicular bias would appear independently of bisection. Twenty four-year-old children were tested on two types of angular figure: (i) a baseline with another line joining at the end at 45 degrees, 90 degrees, or 135 degrees and (ii) a baseline with another line joining at the middle at 45 degrees or 90 degrees. Perpendicular errors were obtained both for 'end' and for 'middle' figures, but overall more strongly for 'middle' figures. However, while 90 degrees 'middle' figures were copied more accurately than 45 degrees/135 degrees figures, this effect was only obtained for vertical and horizontal presentations of 'end' figures, and was reversed for oblique presentations. Also, for 'end' figures, directional errors varied with subtended-line orientation, whereas for 'middle' figures they varied with baseline orientation. It is concluded that although errors towards the perpendicular do occur with single-angle figures, angle equalisation may take place when there are two adjacent angles in the figure. One interpretation of the differing orientation effects is that in 'middle' figures strong internal relational forces produce a distortion that varies with the angle at which the figure is viewed, whereas in 'end' figures the absence of relational forces within the figure leads to a stronger influence from external cues.
儿童会扭曲角形图形，使得组成角比应有的角度更接近90度。这可能是由于垂直偏差或二等分偏差，或者两者皆有。本文报告了一项研究，该研究旨在确定垂直偏差是否会独立于二等分而出现。对24名四岁儿童进行了两种角形图形测试：（i）一条基线，在末端有另一条线以45度、90度或135度相交；（ii）一条基线，在中间有另一条线以45度或90度相交。“末端”图形和“中间”图形都出现了垂直误差，但总体上“中间”图形的误差更强。然而，虽然90度的“中间”图形比45度/135度的图形复制得更准确，但这种效果只在“末端”图形的垂直和水平呈现中出现，而在倾斜呈现中则相反。此外，对于“末端”图形，方向误差随对向线方向而变化，而对于“中间”图形，它们随基线方向而变化。研究得出结论，虽然单角图形确实会出现向垂直方向的误差，但当图形中有两个相邻角时，可能会发生角度均衡。对不同方向效应的一种解释是，在“中间”图形中，强大的内部关系力会产生一种随图形观察角度而变化的扭曲，而在“末端”图形中，图形内部缺乏关系力会导致外部线索的影响更强。
