Are You &#x27;Shore&#x27; It Looks Farther Away: Does the Energetic Cost of Walking On Sand Influence Perception of the Spatial Layout or the Affordance for Action?

Baxter, Brittany Ashton

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Year:: 2021
Contributor:: Baxter, Brittany Ashton (creator); Warren, William (Advisor); Welch, Leslie (Reader); Song, Joo-Hyun (Reader); Domini, Fulvio (Reader); Brown University. Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences (sponsor)
Genre:: theses
Subject:: distance perception; ecological optics; embodied perception
Extent:: xiv, 141 p.

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Abstract:: The present experiments investigated the influence of energetic cost of walking to a target on both the visually perceived egocentric distance of the target and the visually perceived affordance of the terrain for walking. The embodied view treats distance perception as affordance perception: a target viewed over sand will appear farther away than the same target viewed over firm ground because the anticipated effort of walking on sand is greater. In contrast, the information-based account distinguishes layout perception from affordance perception: whereas the perceived affordances for walking depend on the properties of the substrate, visually perceived distance will be the same on both substrates. An experiment using a blind-walking task was conducted at the beach. Participants viewed a target over sand or brick, then blind-walked an equivalent distance on the same or different terrain. Walked distances on sand and brick were the same, indicating that locomotion was calibrated to each substrate. Contrary to the embodied prediction, responses were greater after viewing over brick than over sand. This overshooting could be explained by the slope of the brick walkway, which reduced the sensed declination angle and increased the perceived distance. This experiment showed that perceived distance is determined by the optical information present, consistent with the information-based account. Experiments using a perceptual matching task in which standard and comparison targets appeared on sand and/or brick surfaces were conducted in virtual reality. Participants adjusted the distance of the comparison to match either the perceived energetic cost, perceived ease of walking, or perceived distance of the standard. The energetic cost and difficulty of walking on sand were judged to be significantly greater than on firm ground. Once again, contrary to the embodied hypothesis, the anticipated effort of walking had no influence on perceived distance. The present results underscore that judgements of spatial layout should not be conflated with judgments of what the layout affords for action. Perceived egocentric distance is based on visual information such as declination angle, whereas the perceived cost of walking is based upon visual information about the layout and composition of the ground surface.
Notes:: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brown University, 2021

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Baxter, Brittany Ashton, "Are You 'Shore' It Looks Farther Away: Does the Energetic Cost of Walking On Sand Influence Perception of the Spatial Layout or the Affordance for Action?" (2021). Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:2a25aq97/

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Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations for the Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences department.
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Are You 'Shore' It Looks Farther Away: Does the Energetic Cost of Walking On Sand Influence Perception of the Spatial Layout or the Affordance for Action?