What Is a Visual Cliff?
What Is a Visual Cliff?Answer: A visual cliff involves an apparent, but not actual drop from one surface to another. This tool was originally developed to determine if infants had developed depth perception. A visual cliff is created by connecting a transparent glass surface to an opaque patterned surface. The floor below has the same pattern as the opaque surface. This apparatus creates the visual illusion of a cliff, while protecting the subject from injury. History of the Visual Cliff In order to investigate depth perception, psychologists E.J. Gibson and R.D. Walk developed the visual cliff test to use with human infants and animals. Gibson and Walk described their visual cliff apparatus in the following way: “The cliff is a simulated one and hence makes it possible not only to control the optical and other stimuli (auditory and tactual, for instance) but also to protect the experimental subjects. It consists of a board laid across a large sheet of heavy glass which is supported a
