Development of Pictorial Depth Perception: Cross-cultural Replications

Abstract

JAHODA, GUSTAv, and McGURK, HARRY. Development of Pictorial Depth Perception: Crosscultural Replications. CmnLD DEVELOPMENT, 1974, 45, 1042-1047. 227 African, Chinese, and European children between 4 and 10 years of age participated in a cross-cultural study of pictorial depth discrimination. Subjects had to construct 3-dimensional models representing the size and spatial relationships depicted in 3 series of pictures. Apart from minor fluctuations, the pattern of results varied little between cultures. Size accuracy, relatively high among younger subjects, increased with age and number of depth cues. Spatial accuracy also increased with age but consistently decreased with increase in depth information. The absence of marked cultural differences suggests that the phenomena under study may be universal in nature.