The perception and metaperception of architectural designs communicated by video-computer imaging

Summary Non-architects answered multiple-choice questions about depth, size, shape, texture, and conformation in exterior building scenes presented by manual rendering or video-computer techniques including a single viewpoint, multiple viewpoints, and animation. They also rated (a) confidence in their answers, (b) overall judgments of clarity, and (c) overall impressions of realism. The viewing time needed for judgments was also measured. Presentation technique did not affect the viewing time, but it did affect perceptual accuracy and ratings of confidence, clarity, and realism. Animation yielded higher ratings in all categories. It also produced the highest accuracy for depth perception, but the lowest accuracy for size and texture perception. The low accuracy for size and texture was exacerbated by high confidence in the wrong answers. Multiple viewpoints caused neither false confidence nor reduced accuracy in any category, and yielded the highest accuracy in two categories: size and texture. The combined effects on perception and metaperception (knowlege about one's own perceptual processes) suggest that animation creates the best overall impression and is the best for conveying depth information. However, multiple viewpoints are better than animation for conveying size and texture information. These results are discussed with respect to theories of perceptual representation.     

Primary and Secondary Control Over Age-Related Changes in Physical Appearance

Beliefs about appearance-related changes due to aging were used to test the effects of perceived control and secondary control (acceptance) in a sample of 412 young, early-middle-age, and late-middle-age college-educated adults. Mean difference in aging-related appearance control and hypotheses regarding the adaptiveness of primary and secondary control were examined. Primary control over aging-related appearance was lower in older adults and secondary control was higher. In addition, the results indicated support for the Primacy/Back-Up Model that primary perceived control is important at all levels of actual control. Those with stronger beliefs in their primary control were less distressed. Secondary control served a back-up function in that it was related to less distress only for those who had medium or lower beliefs in primary control. The implications of these findings, that primary control may be advantageous even in low-control circumstances, are discussed.