Abstract
This study was designed to assess the effects of symmetry and plane of presentation on the determination of the perceptual center of flat figures. Experiment 1 demonstrates the existence of effects in improving center determination, both in the number of sides of the shape and in rotational and reflective symmetry (confounded in the experiment). Experiment 2 shows that the presentation plane has no effect on center determination. In Experiment 3, we divide the effects of the two symmetry types, showing that rotational symmetry alone is as effective as the presence of both symmetry types—that is, the presence of symmetry axes is not very useful in finding perceived centers.
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This paper was written as partial fulfillment of M. Davi’s PhD thesis. The research was supported by Air Force Office of Scientific Research Grant AFOSR-91-0057 and NASA Grant NCA2-468 to D. Proffitt.
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Davi, M., Anne Thomas Doyle, M. & Proffitt, D.R. The role of symmetry in determining perceived centers within shapes. Perception & Psychophysics 52, 151–160 (1992). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206768
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206768