The perceptual homunculus: The perception of the relative proportions of the human body.

Linkenauger, Sally A.; Wong, Hong Yu; Geuss, Michael N.; Stefanucci, Jeanine K.; McCulloch, Kathleen C.; Bülthoff, HH; Mohler, Betty J.; Proffítt, Dennis R.

doi:10.1037/xge0000028

Cited by 60 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Interestingly, distortions of hand shape measured in localization tasks matched those found in tactile size perception of the hand (Linkenauger et al, 2015;Longo & Haggard, 2011;Weber, 1834Weber, /1996. Hand distortions measured in localization tasks were consistent with anisotropies characterizing the hand's tactile acuity and receptive field geometry , 2011.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…However, multiple studies indicate the presence of systematic distortions in the perception of bodily proportions (Linkenauger et al, 2015;, 2011Saulton, Dodds, Bülthoff, & Rosa, 2015). Those distortions were demonstrated in visual estimations tasks (Linkenauger et al, 2015;Longo & Haggard, 2012) as well as in tactile and localization tasks , 2011.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those distortions were demonstrated in visual estimations tasks (Linkenauger et al, 2015;Longo & Haggard, 2012) as well as in tactile and localization tasks , 2011. In this study, we are particularly interested in better understanding the origin of the distortions measured in localization tasks .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of visual similarity and memory in body model distortions

et al. 2016

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Several studies have shown that the perception of one's own hand size is distorted in proprioceptive localization tasks. It has been suggested that those distortions mirror somatosensory anisotropies. Recent research suggests that non-corporeal items also show some spatial distortions. In order to investigate the psychological processes underlying the localization task, we investigated the influences of visual similarity and memory on distortions observed on corporeal and non-corporeal items. In experiment 1, participants indicated the location of landmarks on: their own hand, a rubber hand (rated as most similar to the real hand), and a rake (rated as least similar to the real hand). Results show no significant differences between rake and rubber hand distortions but both items were significantly less distorted than the hand. Experiment 2 and 3 explored the role of memory in spatial distance judgments of the hand, the rake and the rubber hand. Spatial representations of items measured in experiment 2 and 3 were also distorted but showed the tendency to be smaller than in localization tasks. While memory and visual similarity seem to contribute to explain qualitative similarities in distortions between the hand and non-corporeal items, those factors cannot explain the larger magnitude observed in hand distortions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of visual similarity and memory in body model distortions

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“…A third possibility was recently proposed by Linkenauger et al (2015). On their interpretation, visual representations of the body show distortions directly opposite to those of somatosensory representations.…”

Section: How Are Different Distortions Related?mentioning

confidence: 98%

Distorted Body Representations in Healthy Cognition

Longo

2017

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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Delusions and misperceptions about the body are a conspicuous feature of numerous neurological and psychiatric conditions. In stark contrast to such pathological cases, the immediacy and familiarity of our ordinary experience of our body can make it seem as if our representation of our body is highly accurate, even infallible. Recent research has begun to demonstrate, however, that large and systematic distortions of body representation are a normal part of healthy cognition. Here, I will describe this research, focusing on distortions of body representations underlying tactile distance perception and position sense. I will also discuss evidence for distortions of higherorder body representations, such as the conscious body image. Finally, I will end with a discussion of the potential relations among different body representations and their distortions. Distortions of Body Representations 3Our body is the core of our sense of self, and central to our personal identity as an individual. We experience our body from the outside, as a physical object in the world like any other, but also from the inside, as an object of immediate experience (Bermúdez, Marcel, & Eilan, 1995). The intimate and direct connection we have with our own body can make knowledge of our body seem immune to the usual sources of perceptual error and illusion. Indeed, the very fact that we have multiple ways of knowing about our body (from inside, and from outside) could very well contribute to making the overall perception of the body highly reliable. While distortions and misperceptions of the body are a familiar result of several psychiatric and neurological conditions, it is natural to suppose that healthy adults have highly accurate -even infallible -knowledge about the physical structure of their bodies. In this paper, I will describe recent research that has begun to question this assumption, showing large and systematic distortions of body representation in healthy adults. After giving a brief summary of the varied distortions of body representation found in pathological conditions, I will describe research showing large distortions of body representations

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“…Recently, a growing literature has started to show that distorted body representations are not unique to disease, but a characteristic part of healthy perception/cognition. Indeed, numerous studies have revealed large and highly consistent distortions of body representations in healthy human adults (Fuentes, Longo, & Haggard, 2013;Hach & Schütz-Bosbach, 2010;Linkenauger, Wong, et al, 2014;Linkenauger, Witt, Bakdash, Stefanucci, & Proffitt, 2009;, 2011, 2012a, 2012bSaulton, Dodds, Bülthoff, & de la Rosa, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distorted body representations are robust to differences in experimental instructions

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Linkenauger

et al. 2017

Atten Percept Psychophys

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Several recent reports have shown that even healthy adults maintain highly distorted representations of the size and shape of their body. These distortions have been shown to be highly consistent across different study designs and dependent measures. However, previous studies have found that visual judgments of size can be modulated by the experimental instructions used, for example, by asking for judgments of the participant's subjective experience of stimulus size (i.e., apparent instructions) versus judgments of actual stimulus properties (i.e., objective instructions).Previous studies investigating internal body representations have relied exclusively on 'apparent' instructions. Here, we investigated whether apparent versus objective instructions modulate findings of distorted body representations underlying position sense (Exp. 1), tactile distance perception (Exp. 2), as well as the conscious body image (Exp. 3). Our results replicate the characteristic distortions previously reported for each of these tasks and further show that these distortions are not affected by instruction type (i.e., apparent vs. objective). These results show that the distortions measured with these paradigms are robust to differences in instructions and do not reflect a dissociation between perception and belief.3

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The perceptual homunculus: The perception of the relative proportions of the human body.

Cited by 60 publications

References 32 publications

The role of visual similarity and memory in body model distortions

The role of visual similarity and memory in body model distortions

Distorted Body Representations in Healthy Cognition

Distorted body representations are robust to differences in experimental instructions

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