Judgment of Head Landmark Positions

Summary

Man's knowledge of human head proportions was investigated by asking young adult Ss to judge the relative location of selected head landmarks. Ss placed “x”s along a “vertical” line in a “unidimensional” condition, and within an oval outline of a head in two “bidimensional” conditions.

Ss displaced landmarks upwards in both unidimensional and bidimensional conditions, with distortions by males exceeding those by females. On the bidimensional stimulus displays, landmarks were also displaced inwards toward the sagittal plane. The upward displacements of eyes and bottom of nose were the most noteworthy of the various distortions.

Psychophysical experiments related to the present study suggest that the observed head landmark distortions are not likely attributable to anchoring effects.

The findings also cast doubt on the hypothesis that Ss overestimate landmark heights because they treat the stimulus display as though it represents the face alone, rather than the entire head. Other explanations of the distortions are considered.