Arm Movement as a Cue for the Estimation of Visual Location

Abstract

Two experiments including 24 (M age = 29 yr., SD = 9; 6 men) and 25 participants ( M age = 27 yr., SD = 9; 8 men), respectively, examined how arm movement extent affects the perception of visual locations. Linear arm movements were performed on a horizontal plane from a start position until an auditory signal occurred. Subsequently, the position of a visual target located along the movement path was judged. The target was judged as further away with an increase in movement extent. The results indicated that motor-related signals are taken into account in visual perception of locations. There were no indications, though, that changes of location perception prompted subsequent changes of action planning, which demonstrates the short-term nature of action-induced plasticity of space perception under the present conditions.