Observer pitch and roll influence: The rod and frame illusion

Observers misperceive the orientation of a vertical rod when it is viewed in the context of a tilted frame (the rod and frame illusion, or RFI). The pitch and roll of the surrounding surfaces have independent influences on this illusion (Nelson & Prinzmetal, 2003). Experiment 1 measured the RFI when the pitch and roll of the floor that supported the observer was varied, and the observer was either seated in a chair or standing upright There were additive influences of pitch and roll on the RFI of seated but not standing observers. Experiments 2 and 3 decoupled body roll and head roll in order to isolate the vestibular and proprioceptive contributions to these effects. The results are interpreted in support of a hierarchy of influence on the RFI: Visual input is given top priority, followed by vestibular input, and then proprioceptive input.