Haptic dominance in form perception: vision versus proprioception.
An experiment placed vision and touch in conflict by the use of a mirror placed perpendicular to a letter display. The mirror induced a discrepancy in direction and form. Subjects touched the embossed tangible letters p, q, b, d, W, and M, while looking at them in a mirror, and were asked to identify the letters. The upright mirror produced a vertical inversion of the letters, and visual inversion of the direction of finger movement. Thus, subjects touched the letter p, but saw themselves touching the letter b in the mirror. There were large individual differences in reliance on the senses. The majority of the subjects depended on touch, and only one showed visual dominance. Others showed a compromise between the senses. The results were consistent with an attentional explanation of intersensory dominance.
Heller
M A
MA
Winston-Salem State University, NC 27110.
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D011434:Proprioception; D011932:Reading; D012683:Sensory Deprivation; D013236:Stereognosis