Rectangularity as a perceptual prior in 3D shape perception

Visual Cognition. 2025. Vol. 33. No. 10. P. 646–661.

Dvoeglazova M.

Rectangularity can be an a priori constraint for the visual system to recover a 3D shape from a 2D image. Two psychophysical experiments (n = 16 each) were conducted to test whether observers are biased to perceive trihedral corners as rectangular and whether this bias is perceptual rather than a response bias. The results of Experiment 1 showed that observers were biased to report that the 3D shapes of the corners were rectangular when their 2D images were consistent with rectangular interpretations. Experiment 2 tested whether this bias affects 3D shape perception by using a task about a 3D shape that was not directly concerned with rectangularity. The results of Experiment 2 were consistent with a prediction based on a hypothesis that the rectangularity bias is perceptual. These results suggest that the visual system uses rectangularity as an a priori constraint for 3D shape perception.

 

Keywords: психофизика, Psychophysics, signal detection theory, теория обнаружения сигнала, 3d shape perception, 3D восприятие формы

Publication based on the results of: Cognitive processes in the information environment: phenomena and explanatory models (2025)