The Perceptual Experience of Slope By Foot and By Finger

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2011

School

Psychology

Abstract

Historically, the bodily senses have often been regarded as impeccable sources of spatial information and as being the teacher of vision. Here it is reported that the haptic perception of slope by means of the foot is greatly exaggerated. The exaggeration is present in verbal as well as proprioceptive judgments. It is shown that this misperception of pedal slope is not caused by calibration to the well-established visual misperception of slope, because it is present in congenitally blind individuals as well. The pedal misperception of slope is contrasted with the perception of slope by dynamic touch with a finger in a force-feedback device. Although slopes feel slightly exaggerated even when explored by finger, they tend to show much less exaggeration than when equivalent slopes are stood upon. The results are discussed in terms of a theory of coding efficiency.

Publication Title

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance

Volume

37

Issue

3

First Page

709

Last Page

719

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