Several years ago, bryce, a fan of the houston rockets basketball team, saw the player yao ming (who is 7’6" tall) standing next to his coach jeff vangundy (who is less than 6 feet tall). bryce correctly perceived the two men as being the same distance away from her. which depth cue most influenced her perception

The correct answer is  familiar size.

Explanation:

Familiar size is a visual indicator used to judge the distance of an object. It is a monocular cue that means that even by using only one eye, it can provide information about depth perception. By understanding the size of an object, a person can distinguish the perception of depth and the distance from an object.

Actually, in the example, the heights of Yao Ming and his coach do not influence on Bryce's depth perception. That is why she sees them apparently at the same distance.  

to plan an idea out before

i would say b. research typically uses a variety of sources