Tool Use Affects Perceived Distance, But Only When You Intend to
Use It
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, (2005)Abstract
Recent research demonstrates neurologic and behavioral differences
in peoples responses to the space
that is within and beyond reach. The present studies demonstrated
a perceptual difference as well.
Reachability was manipulated by having participants reach with and
without a tool. Across 2 conditions,
in which participants either held a tool or not, targets were presented
at the same distances. Perceived
distances to targets within reach holding the tool were compressed
compared with targets that were
beyond reach without it. These results suggest that reachability serves
as a metric for perception. The 3rd
experiment found that reachability only influenced perceived distance
when the perceiver intended to
reach. These experiments suggest that the authors perceive the environment
in terms of our intentions and
abilities to act within it.
Description
diverse cognitive systems bib