Visual field dependence as a navigational strategy

Willey, Chéla R.; Jackson, Russell E.

doi:10.3758/s13414-014-0639-x

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Presumably, when the head is level and not inclined, the brain computes distances to visual targets with respect to an assumed level ground. This represents an intermediate, neutral situation where there is neither cost nor benefit of gravity (cf [7,8,51]). In this special case, the online vestibular-gravitational signal generated by GVS does not need to be integrated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Up, Down, Near, Far: An Online Vestibular Contribution to Distance Judgement

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Whether a visual stimulus seems near or far away depends partly on its vertical elevation. Contrasting theories suggest either that perception of distance could vary with elevation, because of memory of previous upwards efforts in climbing to overcome gravity, or because of fear of falling associated with the downwards direction. The vestibular system provides a fundamental signal for the downward direction of gravity, but the relation between this signal and depth perception remains unexplored. Here we report an experiment on vestibular contributions to depth perception, using Virtual Reality. We asked participants to judge the absolute distance of an object presented on a plane at different elevations during brief artificial vestibular inputs. Relative to distance estimates collected with the object at the level of horizon, participants tended to overestimate distances when the object was presented above the level of horizon and the head was tilted upward and underestimate them when the object was presented below the level of horizon. Interestingly, adding artificial vestibular inputs strengthened these distance biases, showing that online multisensory signals, and not only stored information, contribute to such distance illusions. Our results support the gravity theory of depth perception, and show that vestibular signals make an on-line contribution to the perception of effort, and thus of distance.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly upward distances are overestimated [9]. On the other hand, the evolved navigation theory posits an evolutionary advantage in overestimating the risk of falling [10,11]. On this view, contrary to gravity theory, downward distances are overestimated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Up, Down, Near, Far: An Online Vestibular Contribution to Distance Judgement

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Another factor that could have influenced distance estimation is familiarity with the location. Individual differences are to be expected in distance estimation studies if participants can use experience and familiarity with the scenery to help inform their judgments (Willey & Jackson, 2014). Although a remote channel of an open harbor was used for testing, each individual's relative familiarity with the area was not controlled for and represents a potential limitation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distance perception in an open water environment: Analysis of individual differences

Button

Schofield

Croft

2015

Atten Percept Psychophys

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We investigated whether distance estimation accuracy over open water is influenced by the viewing direction of the observer. Twenty-two healthy students (9 male, 13 female) made 10 distance estimates ranging between 50 and 950 m actual distance in 2 viewing conditions: (1) from shore to boat and (2) from boat to shore. There were no consistent differences in estimation accuracy between viewing directions. The group data revealed a general tendency to underestimate actual distances (74%), but there was considerable interindividual variance (mean error of 74% ± 27%, range = 31% to 145%). A multilevel regression model of estimate accuracy suggests there were three subgroups of participants. One subgroup (N = 4, 18%) were consistent underestimaters, regardless of distance, whereas another subgroup (N = 5, 23%) consistently overestimated. However, the majority (N = 13, 59%) tended to underestimate at shorter distances (less than 400 m) and then overestimate at longer distances. These findings have important implications in survival situations in open water where an individual may need to judge an estimated distance against their perceived swimming capacity in order to self-rescue.

show abstract

“…Participants with significant errors are often called visual field dependent, and those with small errors or who can set a line or rod accurately to an objectively vertical position in the presence of a tilted surrounding frame, are often called field-independent. Willey and Jackson (2014) found that participants with a fear of heights relied more on visual information, compared to controls, but this difference did not reach the significance threshold. Overall, these findings contribute to evidence suggesting that a visual-vestibular component could also be present in acrophobia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Besides (Aslan, Songu & Aslan, 2012) found was an incidence of 41% acrophobia among 34 MS patients (32 female). More recently, Willey and Jackson (2014), using the Rod and Frame Test (Witkin & Asch, 1948), tested participants with a fear of heights. This test allows the measuring of the subjective visual vertical.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual-Vestibular and Postural Analysis of Motion Sickness, Panic, and Acrophobia

Coelho¹,

Silva²,

Pereira³

et al. 2017

Acta Neuropsychologica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Visual-vestibular and postural interactions can act as cues that trigger motion sickness and can also have a role in some anxiety disorders. We explore a method to detect individual sensitivity to visual-vestibular unusual patterns, which can signal a vulnerability to develop motion sickness and possibly anxiety disorders such as a fear of heights and panic. Material/Methods: 65 undergraduate students were recruited for the purposes of this study as voluntary participants (44 females); average age 21.65 years (SD=2.84) with normal or corrected to normal vision, without vestibular or postural deficiencies. Panic was assessed with the Albany Panic and Phobia Questionnaire, Motion Sickness with the Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire and Acrophobia was assessed by means of the Acrophobia Questionnaire. The Sharpened Romberg Test was used to test participant’s postural balance. The Rod and Frame Test (RFT) measures the participant’s ability to align a rod to the vertical within a titled frame providing a measure of error in the perception of verticality by degrees. This test was changed to measure the error offered when a participant’s head was tilted, and to trace the error caused by manipulating the vestibular system input. Results: The main findings show only motion sickness to be correlated with significant errors while performing a visual-vestibular challenging situation, and fear of heights is the only anxiety disorder connected with postural stability, although all disorders (fear of heights, panic and motion sickness) are correlated between each other in the self-report questionnaires. Conclusions: All disorders are correlated to each other in the surveys, and might have some common visual-vestibular origin, in theory. The rod and frame test was exclusively correlated with motion sickness whereas the postural stability test only displayed sensibility to acrophobia. Panic disorder was correlated to neither the RFT nor the Romberg. Although this method was initially employed to increase sensibility in order to detect anxiety disorders, it ended up showing its value in the detection of motion sickness.

show abstract

Visual field dependence as a navigational strategy

Cited by 17 publications

References 26 publications

Up, Down, Near, Far: An Online Vestibular Contribution to Distance Judgement

Up, Down, Near, Far: An Online Vestibular Contribution to Distance Judgement

Distance perception in an open water environment: Analysis of individual differences

Visual-Vestibular and Postural Analysis of Motion Sickness, Panic, and Acrophobia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About