Introduction
The inability to read quickly can be a disadvantage throughout life. This study focused on the associations of braille reading fluency and individual factors, such as the age at onset of ...blindness and number of years reading braille, and the tactile sensitivity of people with early and late blindness. The relationship between reading speed and these other factors was examined to identify factors that influence reading speed.
Methods
Nine people with early blindness and 10 people with late blindness participated in this study, which included the measurement of accuracy of word recognition, braille reading speed, and tactile sensitivity.
Results
We found a significant partial correlation between reading speed and the age at onset of blindness, controlling for number of years reading braille (r = −0.68, p < .005), and no significant partial correlation between tactile sensitivity and reading speed after controlling for the age at onset of blindness (r = −0.08, ns).
Discussion
A direct relationship between reading speed and tactile sensitivity was not confirmed, and the age at onset of blindness appears not only to mediate the relationship between reading speed and tactile sensitivity but also may be a crucial factor influencing braille reading fluency.
Implications for practitioners
Our results suggested that a crucial factor that influences braille reading fluency was the age at onset of blindness, and that individuals should begin learning braille as early as possible.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
We investigated how tactile discrimination performance was interfered with by irrelevant two-dimensional visual stimuli using the crossmodal interference task. Participants made speeded ...discrimination responses to the location of vibrotactile targets presented to either tip or base of their forefinger, while trying to ignore simultaneously presented visual distractors presented to either side of the central fixation on a front display. The array of visual distractors was presented at four different angles, and the participants rested their stimulated hand on a desk in either a forward-pointing or inward-pointing posture. Although there was apparently no specific spatial relationship between the tactile and two-dimensional visual stimuli arrays and the spatial response requirement was controlled, visuotactile interference effects occurred between them. Moreover, we found that the spatial relationships between the arrays depended on the potential range of movement and the current posture of the vibrotactile-stimulated hand and possibly the stored orientation of our hand representation, even without any explicit cue referring to hands. Our results suggest that the visuotactile spatial interactions involve multiple mechanisms regarding our bodily perception and our internal body representation.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Seeing one’s own body (either directly or indirectly) can influence visuotactile crossmodal interactions. Previously, it has been shown that even viewing a simple line drawing of a hand can also ...modulate such crossmodal interactions, as if viewing the picture of a hand somehow primes the representation of one’s own hand. However, factors other than the sight of a symbolic picture of a hand may have modulated the crossmodal interactions reported in previous research. In the present study, we examined the crossmodal modulatory effects of viewing five different visual images (photograph of a hand, line drawing of a hand, line drawing of a car, an U-shape, and an ellipse) on tactile performance. Participants made speeded discrimination responses regarding the location of brief vibrotactile targets presented to either the tip or base of their left index finger, while trying to ignore visual distractors presented to either the left or right of central fixation. We compared the visuotactile congruency effects elicited when the five different visual images were presented superimposed over the visual distractors. Participants’ tactile discrimination performance was modulated to a significantly greater extent by viewing the photograph of a hand than when viewing the outline drawing of a hand. No such crossmodal congruency effects were reported in any of the other conditions. These results therefore suggest that visuotactile interactions are specifically modulated by the image of the hand rather than just by any simple orientation cues that may be provided by the image of a hand.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Many objects in natural scenes have textures on their surfaces. Contrast of the texture surfaces (the texture contrast) reduces when the viewing distance increases. Similarly, contrast between the ...surfaces of the objects and the background (the area contrast) reduces when the viewing distance increases. The texture contrast and the area contrast were defined by the contrast between random dots, and by the contrast between the average luminance of the dot pattern and the luminance of the background, respectively. To examine how these two types of contrast influence depth perception, we ran two experiments. In both experiments two areas of random-dot patterns were presented against a uniform background, and participants rated relative depth between the two areas. We found that the rated depth of the patterned areas increased with increases in texture contrast. Furthermore, the effect of the texture contrast on depth judgment increased when the area contrast became low.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Seeing one’s own body (either directly or indirectly) can influence visuotactile crossmodal interactions. Recently, it has been shown that even viewing a simple line drawing of a hand can also ...modulate such crossmodal interactions, as if the picture of the hand somehow corresponds to (or primes) the participants’ own hand. Alternatively, however, it could be argued that the modulatory effects of viewing the picture of a hand on visuotactile interactions might simply be attributed to cognitive processes such as the semantic referral to the relevant body part or to the orientation cues provided by the hand picture instead. In the present study, we evaluated these various different interpretations of the hand picture effect. Participants made speeded discrimination responses to the location of brief vibrotactile targets presented to either the tip or base of their forefinger, while trying to ignore simultaneously-presented visual distractors presented to either side of central fixation. We compared the modulatory effect of the picture of a hand with that seen when the visual distractors were presented next to words describing the tip and base of the forefinger (Experiment 1), or were superimposed over arrows which provided another kind of directional cue (Experiment 2). Tactile discrimination performance was modulated in the hand picture condition, but not in the word or arrow conditions. These results therefore suggest that visuotactile interactions are specifically modulated by the image of the hand rather than by cognitive cues such as simply semantic referral to the relevant body sites and/or any visual orientation cues provided by the picture of a hand.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
► The visuo-vestibular interaction during ego-motion is investigated. ► Congruent vestibular input reduces the radial optic flow sensitivity. ► Contrastingly, vestibular input has less effect on the ...laminar flow sensitivity.
Visual motion, such as radial optic flow, is an important cue for perceiving direction during ego-motion. Several previous studies have reported that the perceived speed of a radial optic flow is underestimated when the represented ego-motion direction between radial optic flow and non-visual (such as vestibular or/and proprioceptive) information is congruent. In the present study, we examined whether sensitivity to different types of optic flow (radial vs. laminar) interacts with vestibular input in different ways by using another method: instead of estimating the perceived speed of the visual motion pattern, we measured motion-coherence thresholds. The results indicated that when the heading direction was represented by a radial optic-flow pattern, the radial optic-flow sensitivity was significantly lower under the condition where the visual and vestibular sensory input were congruent with the ego-motion direction than under the condition where the visuo-vestibular input and ego-motion were incongruent. These results indicated that radial optic-flow sensitivity was decreased by the congruent vestibular input during the ego-motion event. On the other hand, when the direction of ego-motion was represented by a laminar optic flow, the results were different from those observed with radial optic flows. These data suggest that vestibular input has some effect on optic-flow sensitivity but that the magnitude of the effect of vestibular input may differ between distinct flow patterns such as radial and laminar optic flows.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Visual radial expansion/contraction motion provides important visual information that is used to control several adaptive actions. We investigated radial motion perception in infant Japanese macaque ...monkeys using an experimental procedure previously developed for human infants. We found that the infant monkeys' visual preference for the radial expansion pattern was greater than that for the radial contraction pattern. This trend towards an “expansion bias” is similar to that observed in human infants. These results suggest that asymmetrical radial motion processing is a basic visual function common to primates, and that it emerges early in life.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The radial optic flow sensitivity during locomotion was tested in 4 experiments. The results of the experiments indicated that the optic flow sensitivity was significantly lower in the condition ...where the visual and vestibular sensory inputs were congruent for the ego-motion direction rather than in the condition where the visuo-vestibular inputs were incongruent. These results suggest that the optic flow sensitivity is suppressed during locomotion when the relationship of the visual and vestibular sensory inputs is in a normal state.
Auditory spatial perception is strongly affected by visual cues. For example, if auditory and visual stimuli are presented synchronously but from different positions, the auditory event is mislocated ...towards the locus of the visual stimulus-the ventriloquism effect. This 'visual capture' also occurs in motion perception in which a static auditory stimulus appears to move with the visual moving object. We investigated how the human perceptual system coordinates complementary inputs from auditory and visual senses. Here we show that an auditory aftereffect occurs from adaptation to visual motion in depth. After a few minutes of viewing a square moving in depth, a steady sound was perceived as changing loudness in the opposite direction. Adaptation to a combination of auditory and visual stimuli changing in a compatible direction increased the aftereffect and the effect of visual adaptation almost disappeared when the directions were opposite. On the other hand, listening to a sound changing in intensity did not affect the visual changing-size aftereffect. The results provide psychophysical evidence that, for processing of motion in depth, the auditory system responds to both auditory changing intensity and visual motion in depth.
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DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Many researchers indicate the importance of temporal aspects of braille reading (Grunwald, 1966; Millar, 1987).The purpose of this study was to determine whether braille pattern recognition depends ...on finger movement speed using a learning transfer paradigm. The participants performed the braille recognition task during nine blocks under one finger movement speed condition, and were then tested under the other finger movement speed. The results of this experiment demonstrate that training enhances the performance in spite of finger movement speed. Even if a participant experiences training in the fast condition, performance in the slow condition is improved. Thus, this result is suggested that Braille pattern recognition does not depend on finger movement speed.
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