The effect of the position of lines on length estimation was investigated. 40 5-yr.-olds were asked to compare the two arms of an L-shaped figure presented inside circular frames of different diameters. For each figure one of the arms was on the axis, that is, the diameter, and the other arm was perpendicular to that axis. In making perceptual judgments about the relative length of two lines the children tended to describe the on-axis line as longer than the off-axis line. This illusion which, presumably, reflects a perceptual force induced by the characteristics of the structural pattern, supports the context model of visual anomalies.
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