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Virtual Hand with Ambiguous Movement between the Self and Other Origin: Sense of Ownership and 'Other-Produced' Agency
Published on: October 28, 2020
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Body-ownership for actively operated non-corporeal objects
1Leiden University, Institute for Psychological Research & Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Consciousness and Cognition
|June 22, 2015
Summary
People can feel ownership of virtual objects, like balloons or squares, when their movements sync with real hand actions. This challenges existing theories on body representation and perception.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Body Perception
Background:
- The rubber-hand illusion demonstrates body ownership of objects.
- Existing theories propose multisensory matching (bottom-up) or resemblance to internal body maps (top-down) for body part integration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if non-corporeal, abstract objects can be perceived as body parts.
- To test the validity of top-down theories in explaining body ownership illusions.
Main Methods:
- Healthy adults participated in experiments involving synchronized movements.
- Participants interacted with virtual objects (balloon, square) that changed size or color in response to real hand movements.
Main Results:
- Participants reported body ownership for virtual objects (balloon, square) synchronized with their actions.
- Perceived ownership occurred even when objects were non-corporeal and abstract.
Conclusions:
- Findings contradict top-down theories, suggesting body ownership is not solely based on resemblance to internal body representations.
- Demonstrates that actions and systematic changes in external stimuli can induce body ownership, highlighting the plasticity of body representations.
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