Abstract
When observers perceive several objects in a space, at the same time, they should effectively perceive their own position as a viewpoint. However, little is known about observers’ percepts of their own spatial location based on the visual scene information viewed from them. Previous studies indicate that two distinct visual spatial processes exist in the locomotion situation: the egocentric position perception and egocentric direction perception. Those studies examined such perceptions in information rich visual environments where much dynamic and static visual information was available. This study examined these two perceptions in information of impoverished environments, including only static lane edge information (i.e., limited information). We investigated the visual factors associated with static lane edge information that may affect these perceptions. Especially, we examined the effects of the two factors on egocentric direction and position perceptions. One is the “uprightness factor” that “far” visual information is seen at upper location than “near” visual information. The other is the “central vision factor” that observers usually look at “far” visual information using central vision (i.e., foveal vision) whereas ‘near’ visual information using peripheral vision. Experiment 1 examined the effect of the “uprightness factor” using normal and inverted road images. Experiment 2 examined the effect of the “central vision factor” using normal and transposed road images where the upper half of the normal image was presented under the lower half. Experiment 3 aimed to replicate the results of Experiments 1 and 2. Results showed that egocentric direction perception is interfered with image inversion or image transposition, whereas egocentric position perception is robust against these image transformations. That is, both “uprightness” and “central vision” factors are important for egocentric direction perception, but not for egocentric position perception. Therefore, the two visual spatial perceptions about observers’ own viewpoints are fundamentally dissociable.
Highlights
In daily interactions with our visual-spatial environment, the perception of spatial properties is critical
The interaction was significant, F(1,20) = 5.48, p = 0.03, η2p = 0.22. This interaction indicated that egocentric direction perception performance was better in the normal image condition than in the inverted image condition, p = 0.03, whereas egocentric position perception performance was not different between in the normal image condition than in the inverted image condition, p = 0.50
We examined whether egocentric position perception is improved when the “near” region is seen via central vision, where the resolution is high
Summary
In daily interactions with our visual-spatial environment, the perception of spatial properties is critical. Accurate spatial perception involves an ability to assess the attributions of objects as well as to comprehend spatial relationships among these objects (e.g., as in a layout or for relative distance between objects). This ability allows for effective spatial navigation, wayfinding, and so on (cf Wolbers and Hegarty, 2010). Observers should always have some perception of their own spatial location relative to spatial relationships among the objects they perceive in their surroundings Based on this assumption, the present study raises the following question: ‘What property does the spatial perception of oneself have?’
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