Flipping a Switch "Down" When Not Aligned with the Gravitational Vertical

To flip a switch "down," our motor system can normally rely on concordant visual, gravitational, and egocentric cues about the vertical. However, divers must sometimes perform this task while visual cues are limited and gravitational cues are misaligned with egocentric cues. Astronauts must also flip switches "down" in absence of gravitational cues. Our study evaluates this ability using a laboratory simulation.

The subjects were 24 healthy volunteers who were blindfolded, tilted into different angles of roll, and asked to silence an alarm by flipping a switch "down." The switch was constructed such that it could be flipped in any direction in the subjects' frontal plane.

Two subjects deflected the switch in accordance with the direction of gravity, irrespective of their body orientation. Twenty subjects deflected it in accordance with their body orientation, irrespective of the direction of gravity. The remaining two persons could not be classified unequivocally. Notably, some egocentric responders deflected the rod consistently toward their feet, but others deflected it consistently toward other parts of their body.

Since our findings disagree with perceptual studies where gravitational rather than egocentric cues predominated in the absence of vision, we posit that perception and action may access distinct internal representations of the vertical. On the practical side, our findings indicate that designers of spaceflight and underwater equipment should not rely on divers' intuitive knowledge on how to flip a switch "down." Bock O, Bury N. Flipping a switch "down" when not aligned with the gravitational vertical. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(10):838-843.