Influence of action execution on reachability and distance perception.

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Influence of action execution on reachability and distance perception. Stephane A. Grade1*, Mauro Pesenti1 and Martin G. Edwards1 1 Université catholique de Louvain, IPSY, Belgium In the current literature, it is thought that the behaviours of reachability and distance perception rely on parietal lobe and motor system processes. For example, Coello et al. (2008; see also Coello & Delevoye-Turrell 2007) demonstrated that disruption of primary hand motor cortex moderated the decision of whether an object was reachable of not. This suggests that the perception of reachability or reach space appeared to rely on body representations and action simulation cognition. Similarly, other studies have demonstrated that distance perception can be moderated by the manipulated state of the body; for example by wearing a backpack (Proffitt, 2006), by having sport expertise (Witt, 2011) or by having the use of a tool (Witt, Proffitt & Epstein, 2005; Witt & Proffitt, 2008). These results suggest that the perception of space is derived from an embodied representation, as the environment seems to be perceived through the ability to act in it. Although we suggest here that reachability and distance perception might rely on similar cognitive representations, it remains unclear what differences exist between the two different behaviours, and moreover, whether there is a single common cognitive process underlying the behaviours. To investigate this, we measured spatial perception using reachability judgement and distance magnitude estimation tasks. The reachability judgement task measured participant’s judgements of whether a stimulus was within reach or not, and two distance magnitude estimation tasks measured the estimated distance between the participant and a stimulus (egocentric distance) or between two stimuli (allocentric distance). For the reachability judgement and egocentric distance magnitude estimation tasks, the same stimuli positions were used to allow for a direct comparison between the tasks. A further manipulation involved the participants making concurrent actions during the three tasks. These included hand actions of soft-ball grip squeezing, arm actions of weight lifting or the baseline comparison of no movements. We predicted that if action processes are needed for both the reachability and distance magnitude tasks, then performing an action at the same time might moderate the participant’s responses, measured by the reaction time and accuracy of response. Moreover, the aim was to investigate the differential impact of the motor disruption in allocentric and egocentric distance perception. Results showed that the motor disruption conditions had a significant impact on participant’s reaction time, with the grasping movements slowing the participant responses in the reachability judgement task and in the egocentric distance estimation task. However, the motor disruption conditions had no impact in the allocentric distance estimation task. None of the tasks showed any significant effects of motor disruption on accuracy. These findings confirm the existing literature as they show that executing concomitant actions moderated the perceptual tasks, suggesting that motor processes were necessary for the space cognition processes. Moreover, our data suggest that evaluating the distance separating two stimuli do not require action processes. The data are discussed in terms of how spatial cognition involves motor cognition that is body dependent. References Coello, Y., Bartolo, A., Amiri, B., Devanne, H., Houdayer, E., & Derambure, P. (2008). Perceiving what is reachable depends on motor representations: evidence from a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. PloS one, 3(8), e2862. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002862 Coello, Y., & Delevoye-Turrell, Y. (2007). Embodiment, spatial categorisation and action. Consciousness and cognition, 16(3), 667-83. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2007.07.003 Proffitt, D. R. (2006). Embodied Perception and the Economy of Action. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(2), 110-122. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00008.x Witt, J. K. (2011). Action’s Effect on Perception. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(3), 201-206. doi:10.1177/0963721411408770 Witt, Jessica K, & Proffitt, D. R. (2008). Action-specific influences on distance perception: a role for motor simulation. Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance, 34(6), 1479-92. doi:10.1037/a0010781 Witt, Jessica K, Proffitt, D. R., & Epstein, W. (2005). Tool use affects perceived distance, but only when you intend to use it. Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance, 31(5), 880-8. doi:10.1037/0096-1523.31.5.880 Keywords: Reachability, Distance Perception, Embodiment and grounded cognition, Motor Simulation, Space Perception Conference: Belgian Brain Council, Liège, Belgium, 27 Oct - 27 Oct, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Other basic/clinical neurosciences topic Citation: Grade SA, Pesenti M and Edwards MG (2012). Influence of action execution on reachability and distance perception.. Conference Abstract: Belgian Brain Council. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2012.210.00084 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 03 Sep 2012; Published Online: 12 Sep 2012. * Correspondence: Mr. Stephane A Grade, Université catholique de Louvain, IPSY, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1348, Belgium, stephane.grade@uclouvain.be Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Stephane A Grade Mauro Pesenti Martin G Edwards Google Stephane A Grade Mauro Pesenti Martin G Edwards Google Scholar Stephane A Grade Mauro Pesenti Martin G Edwards PubMed Stephane A Grade Mauro Pesenti Martin G Edwards Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.