Contextual modulation in haptic vernier offset discrimination K Overvliet, B Sayim |
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Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven, Belgium
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| In order to efficiently process information from the environment, the perceptual system has to organize this information across space and time. For example, perceptual grouping has been shown to be an organizational principle of both the visual and auditory system. Despite the prominent importance of integrating spatial and temporal information in the haptic domain, perceptual grouping has not been studied to a large extent in haptics. In the current study, we used a haptic vernier offset discrimination task to investigate whether, in spite of the apparent differences between the modalities, perceptual grouping in haptics and vision are similar. Participants discriminated the offset of a haptic vernier. The vernier was flanked by different flanker configurations: no flankers, single flankers, multiple flankers, boxes and single perpendicular lines. Secondly, we varied the width of the flankers. Our results show a clear effect of flankers: performance was much better when the vernier was presented alone compared to when it was presented with flankers. Moreover, error rates were higher when the flankers had the same size as the vernier itself. These results are similar to those found in visual vernier offset discrimination, which may suggest similar underlying grouping mechanisms for vision and haptics. |
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