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Are perceptual judgments dissociated from motor processes?--A prism adaptation study
Susanne Ferber1, Linda J Murray
1Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G3. ferber@psych.utoronto.ca
Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research
|April 12, 2005
Summary
Healthy adults show a leftward bias when judging facial expressions. This study links this bias to eye movements but finds motor responses aren't essential for perception.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
- Human Behavior
Background:
- Healthy adults exhibit a leftward bias when identifying happier chimeric faces.
- This bias is linked to preferential viewing of the left hemifield.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between perceptual biases in facial emotion recognition and eye movement patterns.
- To determine if motor responses are necessary for perceptual judgments of facial affect.
Main Methods:
- Participants judged chimeric faces (smiling/neutral halves).
- Eye movements were tracked during the task.
- Prismatic lenses were used to alter eye movement direction.
Main Results:
- A leftward perceptual bias correlated with leftward eye movement bias.
- Altering eye movements with prisms did not shift perceptual judgments.
- Prism adaptation affected motor tasks but not higher-order representational processes.
Conclusions:
- Overt motor responses are not required for perceptual judgments of facial affect.
- While prism adaptation influences motor performance, it does not alter underlying representational biases.