Abstract
Haptic perception of space is known to show characteristics that are different to actual space. The current study extends on this line of research, investigating whether systematic deviations are also observed in the formation of haptic spatial representations of object-to-object relations. We conducted a haptic spatial reproduction task analogous to the parallelity task with spatial layouts. Three magnets were positioned to form corners of an isosceles triangle and the task of the participant was to reproduce the right angle corner. Weobserved systematic deviations in the reproduction of the right angle triangle. The systematic deviations were not observed when the task was conducted on the mid-sagittal plane. Furthermore, the magnitude of the deviation was decreased when non-informative vision was introduced. These results suggest that there is a deformation in spatial representation of object-to-object relations formed using haptics. However, as no systematic deviation was observed when the task was conducted on the mid-saggital plane, we suggest that the perception of object-to-object relations use a different egocentric reference frame to the perception of orientation.
Highlights
The high ability to coordinate the hand with vision allows us to reach and grasp a coffee cup, catch a baseball with our hands, and defend ourselves from approaching harm through the use of our hands
The task of the current study was designed to observe reproduction of object-to-object relations in order to further understand the characteristics of haptic spatial representations
Our results did show greater deviation in the reproduced location of the magnet when reproduction was conducted away from the body, which is in line with earlier studies. These results were similar to the results investigating perception of orientation and perception of arm location, showing that haptic perception of space is prone to the locational relation of the object to the body
Summary
The high ability to coordinate the hand with vision allows us to reach and grasp a coffee cup, catch a baseball with our hands, and defend ourselves from approaching harm through the use of our hands Such coordination of the hand and vision are conducted so naturally that we do not consciously distinguish between visual and haptic spatial representations. There are numerous studies which show that spatial perception with vision and spatial perception with the hand (haptics) yield a different spatial representation This can be observed from certain actions of daily life; for instance you may fail to accurately grasp a cup of coffee while keeping eye contact with a friend during a conversation. Bimodal neurons have been found which code visual stimuli in relation to the body and not in relation to the retina
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