028 Constancy
A tendency to perceive objects as unchanging despite visual cues to the contrary.
• People tend to perceive familiar objects as constant and unchanging, despite changes in perspective, lighting, color, or size.
• This indicates that perception involves more than simply receiving sensory inputs; rather, it is a process of continuously reconciling sensory inputs with memories about the properties of things in the world.
• For example, people viewed at a distance look smaller than the same people viewed up close, but the perception of their size is constant. Other types of constancy include brightness, shape, and loudness.
• Consider constancy when presenting information in atypical contexts, such as 3D images on 2D displays. Use recognizable objects and distance cues to provide size and shape references for unfamiliar objects.
See Also 3D Projection • Comparison • Rosetta Stone
