New research suggests that taller people are more better at localizing the target.
Whether spotting danger from across the desert or getting a good view at a concert, height has been an advantage for millennia. Now, a new research made by ECNU and its U.S. cooperators ssuggests that how taller people learn to see the world helps them better judge distances in dark environments.
The research was jointly completed by Dr. Zhou Liu of ECNU’s School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Prof. He Zijiang of University of Louisville, and Prof. Huang Dingling of Ohio State University. The research result, “Intrinsic spatial knowledge about terrestrial ecology favors the tall for judging distance”, was published on line by Science Advances on Aug. 31.
The sesearch is published on Science Advances on Aug. 31.
Researchers tested 24 people, split into two gender-equal groups of tall and short, with a series of psychophysical experiments at ECNU. Researchers found that a taller person’s brain creates a better internal map for processing distance, and taller observers more accurately localized the target.
Dr.Zhou Liu
Prof. He Zijiang
The fascinating finding has attracted much attention from home and abroad. The website of Science reported the research with the article, “Even when sitting, tall people are better at judging distance”, on Aug. 31. The website of Science Advances has put the research on its home page since it was published. What’s more, some news media including Xinhua News Agency have published some reports on it.
The research has attracted much attention from the media.
Science Advances is the first open-access journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It aims to publish significant, innovative original research that advances the frontiers of science and extends the standards of excellence established by Science.
