Dissociation of posture remapping and cognitive load in level-2 perspective-taking

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Neuroscience
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Visuospatial perspective-taking is crucial for social interaction.
• Previous research suggests dual processes in self-judgment with avatars.
• The role of dual independent processes in perspective-taking remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether dual independent processes underlie visuospatial perspective-taking.
• To examine the influence of posture, time pressure, and mental workload on these processes.

Main Methods:

• Participants performed laterality judgments from an avatar's perspective.
• Angular disparity between egocentric and altercentric perspectives was manipulated.
• Experiments varied participant posture, response deadlines, and mental workload.

Main Results:

• Automatic processing decreased when participants stood to adopt a seated avatar's perspective.
• Posture remapping did not affect controlled processing or behavior.
• Time pressure and mental workload reduced controlled processing and impaired perspective-taking, but not automatic processing.

Conclusions:

• Dual independent processes are confirmed in visuospatial perspective-taking.
• Reducing automatic processing may mitigate self-bias in social interactions involving posture changes.
• Cognitive load can hinder controlled processing in spatial alignment and response selection.