Ames's window in proprioception.
When holding a small-scale model of Ames's trapezoidal window with the arms fully extended, several observers experience a striking proprioceptive distortion (eg one hand appears farther from the other, or one arm appears longer than the other). However, data from a matching experiment suggest that the proprioceptive misalignment of the hands is, in fact, rather less than the apparent slant of the window when this is not held. This finding argues against a 'visual-capture' account, supports an explanation in terms of bimodal integrative processes, and underscores the importance of supplementing phenomenological observations with objective measures.
Bruno
Nicola
N
Department of Psychology and BRAIN Centre for Neuroscience, University of Trieste, Italy. nick@psico.univ.trieste.it
Dell'Anna
Alessandro
A
Jacomuzzi
Alessandra
A
D001132:Arm / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006225:Hand / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D009903:Optical Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*; D011601:Psychophysics; D012858:Size Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology