Structural properties of spatial representations in blind people: Scanning images constructed from haptic exploration or from locomotion in a 3-D audio virtual environment |
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Authors: | Amandine Afonso Alan Blum Brian F G Katz Philippe Tarroux Grégoire Borst Michel Denis |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Computing Science, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK;(2) Department of Cognitive Psychology and Ergonomics, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | When people scan mental images, their response times increase linearly with increases in the distance to be scanned, which
is generally taken as reflecting the fact that their internal representations incorporate the metric properties of the corresponding
objects. In view of this finding, we investigated the structural properties of spatial mental images created from nonvisual
sources in three groups (blindfolded sighted, late blind, and congenitally blind). In Experiment 1, blindfolded sighted and
late blind participants created metrically accurate spatial representations of a small-scale spatial configuration under both
verbal and haptic learning conditions. In Experiment 2, late and congenitally blind participants generated accurate spatial
mental images after both verbal and locomotor learning of a full-scale navigable space (created by an immersive audio virtual
reality system), whereas blindfolded sighted participants were selectively impaired in their ability to generate precise spatial
representations from locomotor experience. These results attest that in the context of a permanent lack of sight, encoding
spatial information on the basis of the most reliable currently functional system (the sensorimotor system) is crucial for
building a metrically accurate representation of a spatial environment. The results also highlight the potential of spatialized
audio-rendering technology for exploring the spatial representations of visually impaired participants. |
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