Abstract
A static or kinetic visual disturbance affects subjects’ ability to estimate the direction of the gravitational vertical. This kind of error is increased by a head roll inclination. In two experiments, we combined head orientation with a static (Experiment 1: tilted frame) versus kinetic (Experiment 2: rotating disk) visual disturbance. The results showed that with a static visual disturbance, the increase of errors in the inclined head condition was mainly the consequence of a postural head effect like an Aubert effect. On the contrary, with a kinetic visual disturbance, it appears that the disk effect increases with head inclination. However, individual errors observed with the head inclined in front of a stationary disk were systematically correlated with the errors triggered by the same head inclination in front of a rotating disk. These observations confirm that the head axis spatial reference plays an important role in orientation perception, whatever the head position and the kind of visual display.
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This work was supported by grants from the University Pierre Mendès France of Grenoble (CNRS) and by the Ministère de la Défense (DRET, Contract 92/150).
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Guerraz, M., Poquin, D. & Ohlmann, T. The role of head-centric spatial reference with a static and kinetic visual disturbance. Perception & Psychophysics 60, 287–295 (1998). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206037
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206037