Imagining physically impossible self-rotations: geometry is more important than gravity.
Previous studies found that it is easier for observers to spatially update displays during imagined self-rotation versus array rotation. The present study examined whether either the physics of gravity or the geometric relationship between the viewer and array guided this self-rotation advantage. Experiments 1-3 preserved a real or imagined orthogonal relationship between the viewer and the array, requiring a rotation in the observer's transverse plane. Despite imagined self-rotations that defied gravity, a viewer advantage remained. Without this orthogonal relationship (Experiment 4), the viewer advantage was lost. We suggest that efficient transformation of the egocentric reference frame relies on the representation of body-environment relations that allow rotation around the observer's principal axis. This efficiency persists across different and conflicting physical and imagined postures.
Creem
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SH
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA. sarah.creem@psych.utah.edu
Wraga
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M
Proffitt
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D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006112:Gravitation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D011187:Posture; D013028:Space Perception; D014796:Visual Perception