Perceptions as 3D Models

Visual perceptual representations have both a perspectival aspect, which represents the visible portions of the scene perceived, and a deep aspect, which represents the three-dimensional structure of the scene.  Likewise, mental images have a perspectival and a deep aspect. 

This thesis has antecedents in cognitive science from the 1970’s through the present day.  Several phenomena familiar from everyday experience, such as the fact that we can often imagine what a novel object will look like from another angle, indicate that the representation of three-dimensional structure is an aspect of perceptual representations themselves. 

The accuracy of such dual-aspect perceptions can be defined as the existence of a certain isomorphism between the structure of the perception and the three-dimensional structure of the scene represented.  Further, this conception of perception can explain the phenomenon of amodal completion more satisfactorily than the theory according to which amodal completion consists in mental imagery associated with the perception.