Abstract
The prediction of object stability on earth requires the establishment of a perceptual frame of reference based on the direction of gravity. Across three experiments, we measured the critical angle (CA) at which an object appeared equally likely to fall over or right itself. We investigated whether the internal representation of the gravity direction, biased by either simulated tilt (rotating visual surround) or real body tilt situations, influences in a similar fashion the judgment of stability. In the simulated tilt condition, the estimated CA and the perceived gravity are both deviated in the same direction. In the real tilt condition, the orientation of the body affects the perception of gravity direction but has no effect on the estimated CA. Results suggest that people differently weigh gravity direction information provided by visual motion and by visual polarity cues for estimating the stability of objects.
Highlights
A crucial aspect of the perceptual guidance of motor actions is the ability to predict how visible objects are likely to behave in the near future
The movement of the scene surround had an effect on the object stability judgment, the critical angle (CA) being significantly higher for the rotating condition (F(1,127) = 8.96, p < 0.004), see Fig 2A
The center of mass (COM) height of the object had a significant effect (F(1,127) = 102.30, p < 0.001) on the CA estimation, with a difference of 3.43 ̊ for the low- and high-COM objects in comparison with the mid-COM object
Summary
A crucial aspect of the perceptual guidance of motor actions is the ability to predict how visible objects are likely to behave in the near future. Participants will be required to do two different tasks, namely the estimation of the critical angle of stability of objects and the estimation of the allocentric horizontal direction These tasks will be performed under two different conditions: either with a real tilt of the body or a induced tilt provoked by a moving circular field. For both cases, the internal representation of the gravity direction must be accessed by the subjects, in order to perform the required estimations. If the two tasks involve the same type of internal computations, once the gravity direction is determined, we should observe no interaction effect between the conditions and the tasks
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