Institute of Aviation Human Factors and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Aviation Psychology, Flight Technology College, Civil Aviation Flight University of China, Guanghan, China.
J Vis. 2023 Jun 1;23(6):11. doi: 10.1167/jov.23.6.11.
The human spatial orientation system is well designed on the ground but is imperfect in the aeronautical three-dimensional (3D) environment. However, human perception systems perform Bayesian statistics based on encountered environments and form shortcuts to improve perceptual efficiency. It is unknown whether our perception of spatial orientation is modified by flying experience and forms perceptual biases. The current study tested pilot perceptual biases on ambiguous visual stimuli, the bistable point-light walkers, and found that flying experiences increased the pilot's tendency to perceive himself as higher than the target and the target as farther away from them. Such perceptual effects due to flight are likely to be attributed to experience of variable vestibular state in a higher position in 3D space, rather than the experience of a higher viewpoint. Our findings suggest that flying experience will modifies our visual perceptual biases, and that more attention should be paid to the enhanced viewing from above bias when flying to avoid overestimating altitude or viewing angle when the visual conditions are ambiguous.
人类的空间定位系统在地面上设计得很好，但在航空三维（3D）环境中并不完美。然而，人类的感知系统会根据所遇到的环境进行贝叶斯统计，并形成捷径以提高感知效率。目前尚不清楚我们的空间方向感是否会因飞行经验而改变，并形成感知偏差。本研究通过对模棱两可的视觉刺激——双稳态点步行者——测试飞行员的感知偏差，发现飞行经验增加了飞行员将自己感知为高于目标和目标远离自己的倾向。由于飞行而产生的这种感知效应可能归因于在 3D 空间中更高位置处的前庭状态的变化，而不是更高视角的体验。我们的研究结果表明，飞行经验会改变我们的视觉感知偏差，在飞行时应更加注意增强的从上往下的视角偏差，以避免在视觉条件模糊时高估高度或视角。
