The visual perception of volume: Judgment and fixations for objects

Negar Sammaknejad, Donald Hoffman, Amy Escobar, Pete Foley, Julie Kwak

Accepted December 31, 2018

First published December 31, 2018

https://doi.org/10.26387/bpa.283.1

Abstract

Understanding consumers’ perception and judgments of product volume is critical for consumer researchers, package designers, and public health advocates. In this study, in a set of three experiments, observers chose which of two bottle images with different height-to-width ratios depicted greater volume. The elongation bias was replicated and a leftward bias was found. Eye movements were recorded as a measure of attention and pupil dilation was recorded as a measure of cognitive load. Fewer fixations were made to the chosen bottle; the last fixation was more often to the rejected bottle. The top halves of the bottles and the side nearest the alternative bottle receive more attention. There were more fixations, slower responses, and lower confidence for more visually complex bottles. Pupil dilation increased when judging the volume of more complex bottles. The context of a shelf increased confidence in some cases. Implications for packaging design are discussed.

The visual perception of volume: Judgment and fixations for objects

References

ALTHOFF, R.R. & COHEN, N.J. (1999). Eye-movement-basedmemory effect: A reprocessing effect in face perception. Journalof Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition,25 (4), 997-1010. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1037//0278-7393.25.4.997
ANTON-ERXLEBEN, K., HENRICH, C. & TREUE, T. (2007).Attention changes perceived size of moving visual patterns.Journal of Vision, 7 (11), 1-9. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1167/7.11.5
BANSAL, P. & ROTH, K. (2000). Why companies go green: A modelof ecological responsiveness. The Academy of ManagementJournal, 43 (4), 717-736. http://dx.
doi.org/10.2307/1556363
BARTON,J.J.S.,RADCLIFFE,N.,CHERKASOVA,M.V.,EDELMAN,J. & INTRILIGATOR, J.M. (2006). Information processingduring face recognition: The effects of familiarity, inversion, andmorphing on scanning fixations. Perception, 35 (8), 1089-1105.http://dx.
doi.org/10.1068/p5547
BEATTY, J. (1982). Task-evoked pupillary responses, processing load,and the structure of processing resources. Psychological Bulletin,91 (2), 276-292. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.91.2.276
BEEN, R.T., BRAUNSTEIN, M.L. & PIAZZA, M.H. (1964). Judgmentof volume reduction in distorted metal containers. Journal ofEngineering Psychology, 3 (1), 23-27.
CHAMBERS, K.W., McBEATH, M.K., SCHIANO, D.J. & METZ,E.G. (1999). Tops are more salient than bottoms. Perception& Psychophysics, 61 (4), 625-635. http://dx.
doi.org/10.3758/BF03205535
DEUBEL, H. & SCHNEIDER, W.X. (1996). Saccade target selectionand object recognition: Evidence for a common attentionalmechanism. Vision Research, 36 (12), 1827-1837. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1016/0042-6989(95)00294-4
EKMAN, G. & JUNGE, K. (1961). Psychophysical relations invisual perception of length, area and volume. ScandinavianJournal of Psychology, 2 (1), 1-10. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.1961.tb01215.x
FOLKES, V. & MATTA, Sh. (2004). The effect of package shape onconsumers’ judgments of product volume: Attention as a mentalcontaminant. Journal of Consumer Research, 31 (2), 390-401.http://dx.
doi.org/10.1086/422117
FRAYMAN, B.J. & DAWSON, W.E. (1981). The effect of objectshape and mode of presentation on judgments of apparentvolume. Perception & Psychophysics, 29 (1), 56-62. http://dx.
doi.org/10.3758/BF03198840
GARBER, L.L., HYATT, E.M. & BOYA, Ü.Ö. (2009). The effect ofpackage shape on apparent volume: and exploratory study withimplications for package design. Journal of Marketing Theory andPractice, 17 (3), 215- 34. http://dx.
doi.org/10.2753/MTP1069-6679170302
GARBER, L.L., HYATT, E.M. & BOYA, Ü.Ö. (2014). The perceivedsize of packages of complex vs. simple shape depends uponthe number of packages presented. International Journalof Management Practice, 7 (2). http://dx.
doi.org/10.1504/IJMP.2014.061475
GILBERT, C. & BAKAN, P. (1973). Visual asymmetry in perceptionof faces. Neuropsychologia, 11 (3), 355-362. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(73)90049-3
HENDERSON, J.M., WILLIAMS, C.C. & FALK, R.J. (2005). Eyemovements are functional during face learning. Memory &Cognition, 33 (1), 98-106. http://dx.
doi.org/10.3758/BF03195300
HOFFMAN, J.E. & SUBRAMANIAM, B. (1995). The role of visualattention in saccadic eye movements. Perception & Psychophysics,57 (6), 787-795. http://dx.
doi.org/10.3758/BF03206794
HOLMBERG,L.(1975).Theinfluenceofelongationontheperceptionof volume of geometrically simple objects. Psychological ResearchBulletin, 15 (2), 1-18.
KANG, O.E., HUFFER, K.E. & WHEATLEY, T.P. (2014). Pupildilation dynamics track attention to high-level information.PLoS ONE, 9 (8), e102463. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102463
KERR, W.C., PATTERSON, D., KOENEN, M.A. & GREENFIELD,T.K. (2009). Large drinks are no mistake: Glass size, notshape, affects alcoholic beverage drink pours. Drug AlcoholReview, 28 (4), 360-365. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-3362.2009.00056.x
KINGDOM, F.A., YOONESSI, A. & GHEORGHIU, E. (2007). Theleaning tower illusion: A new illusion of perspective. Perception,36 (3), 475-477. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1068/p5722a
KOIVISTO, M. & REVONSUO, A. (2003). Object recognition in thecerebral hemispheres as revealed by visual field experiments.Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain, and Cognition, 8, 135-153.http://dx.
doi.org/10.1080/713754482
KOSSLYN, S.M., KOENIG, O., BARRETT, A., CAVE, C.B., TANG,J. & GABRIELI, J.D. (1989). Evidence for two types of spatialrepresentations: Hemispheric specialization for categorical andcoordinate relations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: HumanPerception and Performance, 15 (4), 723-735. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.15.4.723
KOWLER, E., ANDERSON, E., DOSHER, B. & BLASER, E. (1995).The role of attention in the programming of saccades. VisionResearch, 35 (13), 1897-1916. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1016/0042-6989(94)00279-U
LOFTUS, G.R. & MACKWORTH, N.H. (1978). Cognitivedeterminants of fixation location during picture viewing. Journalof Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance,4 (4), 565-572. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.4.4.565
MARSOLEK, C.J. & BURGUND, E.D. (2008). Dissociable neuralsubsystems underlie visual working memory for abstractcategories and specific exemplars. Cognitive, Affective &Behavioral Neuroscience, 8 (1), 17-24. http://dx.
doi.org/10.3758/CABN.8.1.17
MERTENS, I., SIEGMUND, H. & GRÜSSER, O.J. (1993). Gazemotor asymmetries in the perception of faces during amemory task. Neuropsychologia, 31 (9), 989-998. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(93)90154-R
PEARSON, R.G. (1964). Judgment of volume from photographs ofcomplex shapes. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 18 (3), 889-900.http://dx.
doi.org/10.2466/pms.1964.18.3.889
PEAVLER, W.S. (1974). Pupil size, information overload, andperformance differences. Psychophysiology, 11 (5), 559-566.http://dx.
doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.1974.tb01114.x
PECHEY, R., ATTWOOD, A.S., COUTURIER, D.L., MUNAFÒ,M.R., SCOTT-SAMUEL, N.E., WOORD, A. & MARTEAU, Th.(2015). PLoS ONE, 10 (12), e0144536. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0144536
PHILLIPS, M.L. & DAVID, A.S. (1997). Viewing strategies for simpleand chimeric faces: An investigation of perceptual bias in normalandschizophrenicpatientsusingscanpaths.BrainandCognition,35 (2), 225-238. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1006/brcg.1997.0939
RAGHUBIR, P. & KRISHNA, A. (1999). Vital dimensions in volumeperception: Can the eye fool the stomach? Journal of MarketingResearch, 36 (3), 313-326. http://dx.
doi.org/10.2307/3152079
SCHIANO, D.J., McBEATH, M.K. & CHAMBERS, K.W. (2008).Regularity of symmetry vertically guides perceptual judgmentsof objects. The American Journal of Psychology, 121 (2), 209-227.http://dx.
doi.org/10.2307/20445457
SIEGLE,G.J.,ICHIKAWA,N.&STEINHAUER,S.(2008).Blinkbeforeand after you think: Blinks occur prior to and following cognitiveload indexed by pupillary responses. Psychophysiology, 45 (5),679-687. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00681.x
STACEY, P.C., WALKER, S. & UNDERWOOD, J.D. (2005). Faceprocessing and familiarity: Evidence from eye-movement data.British Journal of Psychology, 96 (4), 407-422. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1348/000712605X47422
VALENZUELA, A. & RAGHUBIR, P. (2015). Are consumers awareof top-bottom but not of left-right inferences? Implications forshelf space positions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 21 (3),224-241. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1037/xap0000055
WALKER-SMITH, G.J., GALE, A.G. & FINDLAY, J.M. (1977). Eyemovement strategies involved in face perception. Perception, 6(3), 313-326. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1068/p060313
WANSINK, B. (1996). Can package size accelerate usagevolume? Journal of Marketing, 60 (3), 1-14. http://dx.
doi.org/10.2307/1251838
WANSINK, B. & van ITTERSUM, K. (2003). Bottoms up! Theinfluence of elongation on pouring and consumption volume.Journal of Consumer Research, 30 (3), 455-463. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1086/378621
YANG, Sh. & RAGHUBIR, P. (2005). Can bottles speak volumes? Theeffect of package shape on how much to buy. Journal of Retailing,81 (4), 269-281.

SHOW ALL REFERENCES (39)HIDE REFERENCES

DOWNLOAD PDF

Issue:

Issue 283

Keywords:

Views:

216

Downloads:

Cite the article:

Sammaknejad Negar. Hoffman Donald. Escobar Amy. Foley Pete. Kwak Julie. The visual perception of volume: Judgment and fixations for objects. BPA Applied Psychology Bulletin. 2018;283(1):2-17. doi:10.26387/bpa.283.1.

CITE THE ARTICLE

2793

The visual perception of volume: Judgment and fixations for objects

Abstract

References

Article info

Issue:

Keywords:

Views:

Downloads:

Cite the article:

BPA - BULLETIN OF APPLIED PSYHOLOGY

MANAGEMENT AND EDITORIAL OFFICE

ABOUT US

Citation tool

How to cite this article