Effects of binocular disparity on impressions

Abstract

We examined how the size of binocular disparity, which determines the apparent depth magnitude, affects the impressions in different dimensions in viewing nonrepresentational stereograms and representational stereoscopic pictures by the use of semantic differential method with the scales that are related to the basic dimensions of impression: evaluation, activity, potency, and reality. In viewing nonrepresentational stereograms, which presented a binocular disparity ranging from 0 to approximately 70min of arc between the central line, or a rectangle with a peripheral frame, the ratings for the scales for the evaluation impression were the highest at approximately 10-20arc min of disparity, while the ratings for the activity impression increased with the size of the disparity. In viewing the representational and nonrepresentational stereograms, the ratings for the scales, which are related to the evaluation, activity, and reality factors, increased with the size of the disparity if the disparity specified multiple depth layers. These results indicate that the effects of binocular disparity in viewing a stereoscopic picture depend on the disparity distribution and disparity size rather than the representationality of the stereogram. © Japanese Psychological Association 2012.