Hirata Takashi, Hirata Yutaka, Kawai Nobuyuki
Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences, Nagoya University Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.
JSPS Research Fellowships for Young Scientists, Tokyo, Japan.
J Vis. 2024 Mar 1;24(3):2. doi: 10.1167/jov.24.3.2.
Humans can accurately estimate and track object motion, even if it accelerates. Research shows that humans exhibit superior estimation and tracking performance for descending (falling) than ascending (rising) objects. Previous studies presented ascending and descending targets along the gravitational and body axes in an upright posture. Thus, it is unclear whether humans rely on congruent information between the direction of the target motion and gravity or the direction of the target motion and longitudinal body axes. Two experiments were conducted to explore these possibilities. In Experiment 1, participants estimated the arrival time at a goal for both upward and downward motion of targets along the longitudinal body axis in the upright (both axes of target motion and gravity congruent) and supine (both axes incongruent) postures. In Experiment 2, smooth pursuit eye movements were assessed while tracking both targets in the same postures. Arrival time estimation and smooth pursuit eye movement performance were consistently more accurate for downward target motion than for upward motion, irrespective of posture. These findings suggest that the visual experience of seeing an object moving along an observer's leg side in everyday life may influence the ability to accurately estimate and track the descending object's motion.
人类能够准确估计和跟踪物体的运动，即使物体在加速。研究表明，人类对下降（下落）物体的估计和跟踪性能优于上升（上升）物体。以往的研究以直立姿势沿着重力和身体轴线呈现上升和下降的目标。因此，尚不清楚人类是依赖目标运动方向与重力之间的一致信息，还是目标运动方向与身体纵轴之间的一致信息。进行了两项实验来探索这些可能性。在实验1中，参与者估计目标沿身体纵轴向上和向下运动到达目标的时间，分别采用直立姿势（目标运动和重力的两个轴一致）和仰卧姿势（两个轴不一致）。在实验2中，在相同姿势下跟踪两个目标时评估平滑追踪眼动。无论姿势如何，向下目标运动的到达时间估计和平滑追踪眼动性能始终比向上运动更准确。这些发现表明，在日常生活中看到物体沿着观察者腿部一侧移动的视觉体验可能会影响准确估计和跟踪下降物体运动的能力。
