Voluntary head movement and allocentric perception of space

Mark Wexler (1)

1 LPPA - Laboratoire de Physiologie de la Perception et de l'Action

Although visual input is egocentric, some visual perceptions and representations may be allocentric, i.e., independent of the observer's vantage point or motion. By comparing the visual perception of 3D object motion during voluntary and involuntary motion in human subjects, results of three experiments show that the motor command contributes to the objective perception of space: observers executing voluntary head movements are more likely to apply, consciously and unconsciously, spatial criteria relative to an allocentric frame of reference than while undergoing similar involuntary displacements--which lead to a more egocentric bias. Furthermore, details of the motor command are crucial to spatial vision, since allocentric bias decreases or disappears unless self-motion and motor command match.

Mots clés: Voluntary motion; depth perception; motion perception

Domaines: Psychologie

Mark Wexler. Voluntary head movement and allocentric perception of space. 2002. ⟨hal-00000021⟩