On the Moon Illusion.

M. C. Corum

Expert InsightsPublished 1976

Current hypotheses attempting to explain the moon illusion are reviewed. Two experiments were conducted which tested the contextual-effects hypothesis and a variation of the size-distance invariance hypothesis. The first experiment involved scenes in two dimensional space. No illusion was obtained. The second experiment utilized scenes presented on slides, both regular and stereo. A modest illusion was obtained with stereo slides that depicted great distance and offered few contextual cues thus producing a visual scene of ambiguous depth. Neither the contextual-effects hypothesis or the size-distance invariance hypothesis thoroughly explained this result. Another hypothesis was presented, which might handle many inconsistencies that have cropped up not only in past experiments but in the second experiment here. This hypothesis has to do with the possible anisotropy of visual space and how it could be handled using Luneberg's mathematical theory of binocular vision. 33 pp. Ref. (Author)

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1976
  • Pages: 33
  • Document Number: P-5679

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Corum, M. C., On the Moon Illusion. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1976. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P5679.html.
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