Abstract
Earlier studies suggested that the calibration of actions is functionally, rather than anatomically, specific; thus, calibration of an action ought to transfer to actions that serve the same goal (Rieser, Pick, Ashmead, & Garing, 1995). In the present study, we investigated whether the calibration of perception also follows a functional organization: If one means of detecting an information variable is recalibrated, are other means of detection recalibrated as well? In two experiments, visual feedback was used to recalibrate perceived length of a rod wielded by the right hand; the recalibration was found to transfer to length perception with the left hand. This implies that calibration in perception is organized functionally rather than anatomically, and supports the general view that calibration applies to functional systems.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Adolph, K. E., &Avolio, A. M. (2000). Walking infants adapt locomotion to changing body dimensions.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,26, 1148–1166.
Anokhin, P. K. (1935). Problema tsentra i periferii v sovremennoi fiziologii nervnoi deyatelnosti [The problem of center and periphery in the contemporary physiology of nervous activity]. In P. K. Anokhin (Ed.),Problema tsentra i periferii v sovremennoi fiziologii nervnoi deyatelnosti (pp. 1–70). Gorki, Russia: Gosizdat.
Anstis, S. (1995). Aftereffects from jogging.Experimental Brain Research,103, 476–478.
Berry, D. M., & Rieser, J. J. (1999, August).Changes in rotational locomotion transfer from foot to hand. Paper presented at the Tenth International Conference on Perception and Action, Edinburgh.
Bingham, G. P. (1988). Task-specific devices and the perceptual bottleneck.Human Movement Science,7, 225–264.
Bingham, G. P., Zaal, F., Robin, D., &Shull, J. A. (2000). Distortions in definite distance and shape perception as measured by reaching without and with haptic feedback.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,26, 1436–1460.
Bruggeman, H., Pick, H. L., Jr., & Rieser, J. J. (2001, June).Directional recalibration in throwing. Poster presented at the Eleventh International Conference on Perception and Action, Storrs, CT.
Carello, C., Fitzpatrick, P., Domaniewicz, I., Chan, T.-C., &Turvey, M. T. (1992). Effortful touch with minimal movement.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,18, 290–302.
Cohen, M. M. (1967). Continuous versus terminal visual feedback in prism aftereffects.Perceptual & Motor Skills,24, 1295–1302.
Cutting, J. E. (1986).Perception with an eye for motion. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Cutting, J. E. (1991). Four ways to reject directed perception.Ecological Psychology,6, 185–204.
Fitzpatrick, P., Carello, C., &Turvey, M. T. (1994). Eigenvalues of the inertia tensor and exteroception by the “muscle sense”.Neuroscience,60, 551–568.
Gallese, V. (2003). A neuroscientific grasp of concepts: From control to representation.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: Series B,358, 1231–1240.
Gibson, E. J., &Bergman, R. (1954). The effect of training on absolute estimation of distance over the ground.Journal of Experimental Psychology48, 473–480.
Gibson, J. J. (1966).The senses considered as perceptual systems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Gibson, J. J. (1979).The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Hamilton, C. R. (1964). Intermanual transfer of adaptation to prisms.American Journal of Psychology,77, 457–462.
Harris, C. S. (1963). Adaptation to displaced vision: Visual, motor, or proprioceptive change?Science,140, 812–813.
Harris, C. S. (1965). Perceptual adaptation to inverted, reversed, and displaced vision.Psychological Review,72, 419–444.
Hebb, D. O. (1949).The organization of behavior: A neuropsychological theory. New York: Wiley.
Heft, H. (1993). A methodological note on overestimates of reaching distance: Distinguishing between perceptual and analytical judgments.Ecological Psychology,5, 255–271.
Jacobs, D. M., & Michaels, C. F. (2005).The education of attention and calibration in one-handed catching. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Kingma, I., Beek, P. J., &van Dieën, J. H. (2002). The inertia tensor versus static moment and mass in perceiving length and heaviness of hand-wielded rods.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,28, 180–191.
Kugler, P. N., Kelso, J. A. S., &Turvey, M. T. (1980). On the concept of coordinative structures as dissipative structures: I. Theoretical lines of convergence. In G. E. Stelmach & J. Requin (Eds.),Tutorials in motor behavior (pp. 3–47). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Kugler, P. N., &Turvey, M. T. (1987).Information, natural law, and the self-assembly of rhythmic movement. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Lashley, K. S. (1930). Basic neural mechanisms in behavior.Psychological Review,37, 1–24.
Luria, A. R. (1973).The working brain. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Mark, L. (1987). Eyeheight-scaled information about affordances: A study of sitting and stair climbing.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,13, 361–370.
Pagano, C. C., Fitzpatrick, P., &Turvey, M. T. (1993). Tensorial basis to the constancy of perceived object extent over variations of dynamic touch.Perception & Psychophysics,54, 43–54.
Redding, G. M., &Wallace, B. (1988). Components of prism adaptation in terminal and concurrent exposure: Organization of the eyehand coordination loop.Perception & Psychophysics,44, 59–75.
Redding, G. M., &Wallace, B. (1997).Adaptive spatial alignment. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Reed, E. S. (1982). An outline of a theory of action systems.Journal of Motor Behavior,14, 98–134.
Reed, E. S. (1996).Encountering the world: Toward an ecological psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rieser, J. J., Pick, H. L., Ashmead, D. H., &Garing, A. E. (1995). Calibration of human locomotion and models of perceptualmotor organization.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,21, 480–497.
Riley, M. A., &Turvey, M. T. (2001). Inertial constraints on limb proprioception are independent of visual calibration.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,27, 438–455.
Solomon, H. Y., &Turvey, M. T. (1988). Haptically perceiving the distance reachable with hand-held objects.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,14, 404–427.
Turvey, M. T. (1996). Dynamic touch.American Psychologist,51, 1134–1152.
Turvey, M. T., &Carello, C. (1995). Dynamic touch. In W. Epstein & S. Rogers (Eds.),Handbook of perception and cognition: Perception of space and motion (pp. 401–490). New York: Academic Press.
Wagman, J. B., Shockley, K., Riley, M. A., &Turvey, M. T. (2001). Attunement, calibration, and exploration in fast haptic perceptual learning.Journal of Motor Behavior,33, 323–327.
Wallace, B., &Redding, G. M. (1979). Additivity in prism adaptation as manifested in intermanual and interocular transfer. Perception &Psychophysics,25, 133–136.
Withagen, R., & Michaels, C. F. (2001, June).The calibration of haptically perceived length to visually perceived reachable distance. Poster presented at the Eleventh International Conference on Perception and Action, Storrs, CT.
Withagen, R., &Michaels, C. F. (2002). The calibration of walking transfers to crawling: Are action systems calibrated?Ecological Psychology,14, 223–234.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Withagen, R., Michaels, C.F. Transfer of calibration in length perception by dynamic touch. Perception & Psychophysics 66, 1282–1292 (2004). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194998
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194998