Hypotheses in Perception: Their Development about Unambiguous Stimuli in the Environment

Abstract

A series of seven photographs which depict a real scene as it is approached by an observer were shown, in sequence, to ninety-six university students. The photographs were either projected colour transparencies or black-and-white prints. Two sizes of photographs were used in each set and the series was presented with or without the first photograph. In earlier studies in which blurred photographs were used as stimuli, observers were unsure about their hypotheses. That was not the case in this study. Although individual observers differed widely in their initial hypotheses, the initial photographs were not perceived as ambiguous. It required on average from 2.9 photographs (large, black-and-white, full series) to 4.5 photographs (small, colour, full series) for correct identification. In general, colour is a hindrance to correct identification. For the full series approximately three hypotheses are put forward before the scene is correctly identified.