Higher order and lower order variables in the visual perception of relative pulling force.
In 7 experiments, undergraduates judged the force exerted by a videotaped standing puller, a computer-generated (stick-figure) puller, or a computer-generated inverted pendulum. Single and stepwise multiple regression analyses determined the kinematic variables exploited by the participants. Results show that (a) judgments correlated highly with force and improved with feedback; (b) judgments correlated more highly with lower order kinematic variables than with force itself; (c) participants differed in the kinematic variables exploited; (d) participants changed over blocks of trials in the variables exploited; (e) some participants used compound kinematic variables; (f) the variables exploited depended on the type of feedback; and (g) judgments to upright pullers, inverted pullers, and simple pendula showed the same qualitative patterns. Implications for theories of direct perception, directed perception, and heuristics are considered.
Michaels
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Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. c_f_michaels@fbw.vu.nl
de Vries
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D000328:Adult; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D005082:Physical Exertion; D011601:Psychophysics; D014796:Visual Perception; D014892:Weight Perception; D016474:Weight-Bearing