Size Constancy

I chose size constancy, it refers to the fact that perception of the size of objects are moderately constant in spite of the size of objects on the retina vary greatly with distance.  An example of this would be like a ship off in the distance coming to moor pier side. When it is way out on the horizon it looks very small to us, but as it gets closer it seems to grow. We already know the size of the ship and how it looks. As to what how we see it is all due to the distance it is away from us. When I was kid I would always take my hand an cup it so I could just look through the hole that was made. I would look at everything; it surprised me when I watched things grow as I peered through my hand as my mom would drive down the road.

Another factor that can influence perceived size is perspective.  One of the situations where this could be experienced is in a tunnel.  The bricks lining the walls of the tunnel will subtend small and smaller visual angles the further they are from your eye.  In fact, these converging lines are often used by artists to create the illusion of distance in their paintings.  If objects of constant size are placed in an environment where there are strong perspective cues these objects can appear larger at greater distances.

This has always been interesting to me. The one thing that I thought of when reading this is how so complex the eye was. It has so many functions, form gathering light to making it possible to see in color. So the eye is very important for everyday life.