Egocentric Direction and Position Perceptions are Dissociable Based on Only Static Lane Edge Information

Area of Science:

• Visual perception
• Spatial cognition
• Human factors

Background:

• Observers perceive their spatial location from visual scenes, but understanding this process in limited visual environments is lacking.
• Two distinct visual spatial processes, egocentric position and direction perception, exist during locomotion.
• Previous research focused on information-rich environments, leaving impoverished environments understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate egocentric position and direction perception in visually impoverished environments using only static lane edge information.
• To examine the influence of the "uprightness factor" and "central vision factor" on these perceptions.
• To determine if egocentric direction and position perceptions are dissociable.

Main Methods:

• Experiment 1: Assessed "uprightness factor" using normal and inverted road images.
• Experiment 2: Assessed "central vision factor" using normal and transposed road images.
• Experiment 3: Replicated findings from Experiments 1 and 2.

Main Results:

• Egocentric direction perception was significantly affected by image inversion and transposition.
• Egocentric position perception remained robust despite image transformations.
• Both "uprightness" and "central vision" factors were critical for egocentric direction perception, but not for egocentric position perception.

Conclusions:

• Egocentric direction and position perceptions are fundamentally dissociable.
• "Uprightness" and "central vision" factors are essential for egocentric direction perception in impoverished visual scenes.
• Egocentric position perception is more resilient to visual scene manipulations.