Kinesthetic perception of the vertical as a function of sport experience

Modelling response time in a mental rotation task by gender, physical activity, and task features

Mental rotation (MR) is a spatial skill considered to be a key-component of intellectual ability. Studies have suggested that the response time (RT) in a MR task (MRt) might be influenced, with possible gender differences, by the practice of a physical activity (PA) and depending on the plane, direction, degrees of the MR and the frame of reference to perform it. The present study aimed at examining the respective influences of all these variables on the RT by developing a linear mixed-effect model from the RTs varying according to the MR plane, direction, degrees and frame of reference. The MRt was performed by 96 males and females, all undergraduate students, distributed in three groups (sedentary subjects, artistic gymnasts, and futsal players). The results showed that only gender had a main effect (faster log RT in males), probably task-dependent. The other variables interacted among them showing that: (a) the log RT may be influenced by rotations experienced during PA, in particular during the locomotion on a horizontal ground and (b) such influence mainly depends on the compatibility of the physical rotations experienced with the plane and the degrees of the MRt.

Kinaesthetic and visual perceptions of orientations

In the present study we compare the kinaesthetic and visual perception of the vertical and horizontal orientations (subjective vertical and subjective horizontal) to determine whether the perception of cardinal orientations is amodal or modality-specific. The influence of methodological factors on the accuracy of perception is also investigated by varying the stimulus position as a function of its initial tilt (clockwise or counterclockwise) and its angle (22 degrees, 45 degrees, 67 degrees, and 90 degrees) in respect to its physical orientation. Ten participants estimated the vertical and horizontal orientations by repositioning a rod in the kinaesthetic condition or two luminous points, forming a 'virtual line' in the visual condition. Results within the visual modality replicated previous findings by showing that estimation of the physical orientations is very accurate regardless of the initial position of the virtual line. In contrast, the perception of orientation with the kinaesthetic modality was less accurate and systematically influenced by the angle between the initial position of the rod and the required orientation. The findings question the assumption that the subjective vertical is derived from an internal representation of gravity and highlight the necessity of taking into account methodological factors in studies on subjective orientations.