Friedman, S. L. & Stevenson, M. B. (1980). Chapter 7: Perception of movement in pictures. In: M. A. Hagen (Ed.), The Perception of Pictures. New York: Academic Press.

«Introduction. This chapter reviews current information about pictorial representations of movement. It is possible to draw a two-dimensional picture that makes its viewers say the picture shows something or someone being moved or moving, as in the process of falling, being thrown, dancing, working, or jogging. Little has been written in the psychological literature about the understanding of such a two-dimensional representation of movement or about the correspondence between the information for environmental movement and the information for pictorial movement. The nature of the correspondence between environmental and pictorial movement is intriguing because it is so obvious that movement occurring over time cannot, in and of itself, be captures in two-dimensional representations. Even under the most unnatural observation conditions, the eye cannot be fooled by pictorial movement as might be the case with pictorial depth. Yet we feel that pictorial movement is compelling, that, over and above its informational value, it can also transmit a sense of movement.

We decided that the best way to learn about pictorial movement would be to survey actual pictures. We surveyed paintings, photographs, caricatures, cartoons, and diagrams produced by different cultures and during different historical periods. Based on this survey, we made a list of the types of information artists use for portraying movement in pictures. Once the pictorial indicators for movement had been enumerated, we became interested in the effectiveness of such indicators in inducing a correct understanding of pictorial movement.

We found a difference in the frequency with which the various pictorial movement indicators appeared in pictures. Existing experimental evidence indicated that developmentally and cross-culturally the indicators had not been equally comprehensible. These pieces of information, taken together suggested that pictorial movement indicators vary in the way they provide information about real movement.

Because indicators of pictorial movement share features with pictorial indicators that represent objects at rest, scenes and sound, it is possible that the nature of pictorial representation in general cannot be adequately described by a theory which does not specify different ways in which pictorial information can correspond to environmental information. On the practical side, the representational inequality of pictorial movement indicators has implications for the design of pictorial materials for intelligence tests and children's books. One would want to make sure that the pictorial indicators used in pictures will be designed so as to be understood by their readers.» (p. 225-6)

«Summary. This chapter is about pictorial information for movement. We refer to information in two-dimensional pictures that evoke a perception of active or passive movement. In looking at pictures from different historical and cultural periods we have identified pictorial indicators for movement:

1. There are indicators depicting a selected single moment of the process of movement as seen from a specific point of view.

2. There are indicators showing an object (living or still) or part of it at selected successive moments.

3. There are indicators suggesting movement by showing side-by-side aspects of the environment that are unlikely to occur together in the environment.

4. There are abstract lines or shapes that have the power to suggest movement.

We noticed that only the first type of indicators have been used frequently in art of different cultures and periods.

A limited body of psychological research suggests that the different pictorial indicators for movement are not equally effective - they are first understood at different ages. The understanding of some indicators has been studied cross-culturally and was found to depend on the amount of exposure to a pictorial culture (more exposure was associated with better understanding). The varied effectiveness of the pictorial indicators for movement suggested to us that these indicators are also varied in terms of their correspondence to the environmental movement they represent. We consequently hypothesized that these indicators could be placed on a continuum of information correspondence to the environment. At one extreme of the continuum are the pictorial indicators spontaneously recognized as representative of the environment. At the other extreme of the same continuum are indicators that are arbitrary and must be learned by a process of association. Because pictorial indicators for movement share characteristics with pictorial indicators of objects, scenes, and sounds, we suggest that the latter may also be varied in terms of their information correspondence to the environment.» (p. 251)