Physical Asymmetries and Disorientation

Lund, Frederick H.

doi:10.2307/1414419

Cited by 41 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…When humans have access only to body-related feedback, that is, in the absence of vision and possibly acoustic guidance, they cannot maintain a straight walking path but tend to walk in circles [4]. Boyadjian et al [7] provide convincing evidence that this can be attributed to asymmetries in limb functionality instead of systematic bias in perceived body orientation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Walking in circles: a modelling approach

Maus

Seyfarth

2014

J. R. Soc. Interface.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Blindfolded or disoriented people have the tendency to walk in circles rather than on a straight line even if they wanted to. Here, we use a minimalistic walking model to examine this phenomenon. The bipedal spring-loaded inverted pendulum exhibits asymptotically stable gaits with centre of mass (CoM) dynamics and ground reaction forces similar to human walking in the sagittal plane. We extend this model into three dimensions, and show that stable walking patterns persist if the leg is aligned with respect to the body (here: CoM velocity) instead of a world reference frame. Further, we demonstrate that asymmetric leg configurations, which are common in humans, will typically lead to walking in circles. The diameter of these circles depends strongly on parameter configuration, but is in line with empirical data from human walkers. Simulation results suggest that walking radius and especially direction of rotation are highly dependent on leg configuration and walking velocity, which explains inconsistent veering behaviour in repeated trials in human data. Finally, we discuss the relation between findings in the model and implications for human walking.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But we do not only turn voluntarily. When we are blindfolded or have no orientation cues, we walk rather in circles than in straight lines even if we wanted to [4][5][6]. Interestingly, whether or not the turning direction is a function of differences in leg lengths has been debated for decades [4,5,[7][8][9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Walking in circles: a modelling approach

Maus

Seyfarth

2014

J. R. Soc. Interface.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Much of this argument concerned the premise that without sight, spatial knowledge and spatial ability would be both diminished and impoverished. Researchers such as Banerjee (1928), Lund (1930) andvon Senden (1932) established the existence of significant veering trends in blind and blindfolded sighted populations, as well as finding that blind people performed less well than sighted participants on a number of shape recognition and wayfinding tasks. However, Worchel (1951) and Cratty (1966) provided evidence of significant spatial abilities in blind or vision-impaired populations using relatively large-scale real-world environments (e.g., areas the size of a footbal field).…”

Section: Cognitive Mapping Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding spatial concepts at the geographic scale without the use of vision

Kitchin¹,

Blades²,

Golledge

1997

Progress in Human Geography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article we review the literature that has sought to determine the spatial understanding of people with visual impairments or blindness. In particular, we examine the arguments surrounding whether people with visual impairments or blindness can understand geographic relationships such as distance, configuration and hierarchy. At present, the conclusions of researchers can be divided into three camps. One group suggests that vision is the spatial sense par excellence. This group suggests that congenitally blind individuals (blind from birth) are incapable of spatial thought because they have never experienced the perceptual processes (e.g., vision) necessary to comprehend spatial arrangements. Another group suggests that people with visual impairments can understand and mentally manipulate spatial concepts, but because information is based upon auditory and haptic cues this knowledge and comprehension is inferior to that based upon vision. The third group suggests that visually impaired individuals possess the same abilities to process and understand spatial concepts and that any differences, either in quantitative or qualitative terms, can be explained by intervening variables such as access to information, experience or stress. To date, most of the research which has led to these conclusions has been conducted using small-scale, laboratory environments and, as yet, we are still unsure as to how people with visual impairments and blindness learn, store and process spatial information at the geographic scale. We suggest that more research is needed to understand more fully the`mental landscapes' of people with blindness or visual impairments. Such research is necessary, particularly given the rapid growth of orientation and navigation aids in recent years aimed at increasing independent mobility. However, research must move out of the laboratory to examine spatial thought within the geographic environments that people with visual impairments or blindness interact with on a daily basis.

show abstract

“…It is well known that an individual attempting to follow a straight path without guide will veer (37,38). A comparable situation is present with -ehicles since, the drive mechanisms, as a function of internal frictions and irregularities of-traction, cannot be depended upon to pull …”

Section: Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whiteout: A bibliographical survey.

Harker¹

1958

PsycEXTRA Dataset

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Physical Asymmetries and Disorientation

Cited by 41 publications

References 0 publications

Walking in circles: a modelling approach

Walking in circles: a modelling approach

Understanding spatial concepts at the geographic scale without the use of vision

Whiteout: A bibliographical survey.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About