ИСТИНА

This research takes into consideration methodological aspects of "change blindness" (CB) phenomenon - failure to notice significant changes in objects that are located within a visual field due to perceptual interruption [Rensink, O'Regan & Clark, 1997, Psychological Science 8 (5), 368-373.]. Virtual Reality system (Cave) was used in the study. Stimuli [Mikhaylova, Gusev & Utochkin, 2012, Perception 39, p. 102] included 3D scenes that contained visual cubes. In the first series all the cubes were positioned at the same depth (same references on axis Z), while in the second series at different depths (Z parameters for cubes were different). We developed a formula for Virtools 4.0 environment, which allows varying the depth of cubes positioning while remaining their positions at the frontal plane (axes X, Y). Participants were asked to detect a shift of one cube within the visual scene. The results showed that the visual search was more effective for cubes with different depth arrangement. Thus the inclusion of depth as an additional cue within a visual scene reduces the severity of CB by structuring the scene. This work was supported by MSU Program of Development.