Jim,

>You going to tell us eventually what's behind your question?

See the reply to Al, I think it talks more to each of the thoughts/points you raise.

>My gut reaction is that people are very poor at evaluating equivalent areas on paper, but very good at it in real life.
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>If you had an apple pie (or, my preference, a pepperoni pizza) cut according to the top/left example, nobody older than a three year old would be fooled into thinking that the inner and outer pieces were of equivalent area. (Just try giving the three year-old the smaller slice)
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>On paper, however, people use different clues when presented with the same issue presented in a diagram.
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>As presented, I would guess that most people would favor the top/left (I know too much to have a gut reaction here -- I only have a reasoned reaction). My guess is that for the small group of users that I am acquainted with in my company, problem 3/4 would choose the upper left.
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>However -- if you showed them the same diagram, with the two slices detached, as if they had been sliced and slightly removed from the pie / pizza, thereby removing the visual comparison to the radius of the circle -- hardly anybody would say the two slices were equivalent.
>