Monocular stereopsis, pinholes, and the perils of classroom theorizing: A response to McIntosh (2025).
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Monocular stereopsis is a compelling perceptual effect wherein viewing a picture of a 3-dimensional scene with one eye through an aperture generates a perceptual impression of depth similar to binocular stereopsis. Here I provide a critique of a recently published report on the topic in the journal i-Perception (McIntosh, 2025). In the report, the author claims to adjudicate on explanations of the monocular stereopsis effect and the phenomenology of stereopsis more broadly construed. The author suggests, based on an informal test comparing pinhole and aperture viewing of a picture during a fifteen-minute classroom lecture break, that the monocular-aperture effect is best explained by a 100-year-old description of the phenomenon. I show that McIntosh’s report reveals a lack of understanding of the modern empirical facts and theoretical concepts relevant to this scientific debate and neglects the rudimentary demands of conducting an interpretable perceptual test.
Author: Dhanraj Vishwanath
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7207572275