Changes in the perception of spatial location: A test of potentiation vs. recalibration theory

Two experiments tested recalibration and muscle potentiation theories of adaptation to prismatic displacement of the visual field. Each experiment included a condition in which only recalibration could occur and another condition in which only potentiation was possible. In one experiment, the displacement was simulated on a computer-driven cathode ray tube, and in the other, the displacement was produced by actual prisms. In both experiments, significant adaptation occurred only in the potentiation condition. Implications of this finding for recent criticisms of potentiation theory are discussed.