Pictorial depth and the Poggendorff illusion

Abstract

An informal demonstration is offered, which strongly supports previous contentions that, when the elements of a Poggendorff display appear to be arranged in pictorial space such that the two critical line segments are at different heights, an illusory impression of misalignment may occur. A second pair of demonstrations shows, however, that such a height difference is neither a necessary nor a sufficient cause of the illusion. In addition, the harmful effect of adding certain pictorial elements to the standard Poggendorff pattern requires a new understanding. © 1989 Psychonomic Society, Inc.