Real and visually-induced body inclination differently affect the perception of object stability

Rafael Laboissière (1) , Pierre-Alain Barraud (2) , Corinne Cian (1, 3)

1 LPNC - Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition
2 TIMC-IMAG-GMCAO - Gestes Medico-chirurgicaux Assistés par Ordinateur
3 IRBA - Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées [Brétigny-sur-Orge]

The prediction of object stability on earth requires the establishment of a perceptual frame of reference based on the direction of gravity. Across three experiments, we measured the critical angle (CA) at which an object appeared equally likely to fall over or right itself. We investigated whether the internal representation of the gravity direction, biased by either simulated tilt (rotating visual surround) or real body tilt situations, influences in a similar fashion the judgment of stability. In the simulated tilt condition, the estimated CA and the perceived gravity are both deviated in the same direction. In the real tilt condition, the orientation of the body affects the perception of gravity direction but has no effect on the estimated CA. Results suggest that people differently weigh gravity direction information provided by visual motion and by visual polarity cues for estimating the stability of objects.

Domains: Neuroscience; Psychology

Rafael Laboissière, Pierre-Alain Barraud, Corinne Cian. Real and visually-induced body inclination differently affect the perception of object stability. PLoS ONE, 2017, 12 (10), pp.e0186431. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0186431⟩. ⟨hal-01618308⟩