Re-assessing the role of culture on the visual orientation perception of the rod and frame test

Abstract

In recent research of culture and ethnicity in visual perception, some researchers have found support for the hypothesis that more collectivistic cultures tend to be more influenced by surrounding contextual visual information than more individualistic cultures. This hypothesis suggests that even low-level visual perception may not be universal and has great implications on how vision research should be conducted. The current study reexamines this hypothesis in the rod and frame task, which tests the influence of a tilted contextual frame on orientation perception of the rod. We found no difference between participants of East Asian and Western European descent in this task. Despite not finding the cultural effect, we found a well-reported gender effect in which women were more influenced by the tilt of the frame than men, helping to ensure the quality of the data collected. Our results suggest that contextual influence on visual perception does not affect East Asians and white Western Europeans differently.

Misperception of Visual Verticality Measured with a Virtual Reality Device in Patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…With respect to RFT, the evidence shows high levels of visual dependence measured with this test in several groups of patients [41,42]. Regarding the main finding of our study, the alteration in the RFT values in the sample of patients with FMS could be related to a greater susceptibility in this test of the female [43] and older [44] subjects. This is relevant because we know that Fibromyalgia is a syndrome that more characteristically affects women and that it produces effects similar to aging, and even greater effects are seen when visuo-vestibular participation in maintaining body balance is analyzed [16].…”

Perceptual visual dependence for spatial orientation in patients with schizophrenia

“…Numerous studies have consistently reported gender-related differences on visuospatial tests, with men usually performing better than women [ 24 – 27 ]. Similarly, there are studies confirming gender differences in visual dependence on the rod and frame test (RFT), which assesses the influence of the surrounding frame upon the accuracy of judging vertical alignment [ 28 , 29 ]. In the current study, there were no significant gender differences in visual dependence levels on the RDT.…”