Active control in interrupted dynamic spatial orientation: the detection of orientation change

Gibson (1966, 1979) suggested that an important property of perception is that the observer is active. Two experiments were conducted to examine the benefits of active observation in determining dynamic spatial orientation. Subjects were presented with displays simulating locomotion through a three-dimensional environment. Active observers continuously controlled locomotion, whereas passive observers viewed the display. During the trial, the display was blacked out for a brief period, followed by a static image that was at either the correct or the incorrect orientation following the blackout. Subjects were required to indicate whether they were positioned at the correct extrapolated orientation. The presence or absence of orientation change, the type of change (changes in rotation about the depth axis [roll], horizontal axis [pitch], or forward translation), the duration of the blackout, and the consistency of change were varied. In addition, the experiments used either a compensatory or a pursuit tracking task. Active observers had greater sensitivity than did passive observers in detecting a change for both tracking tasks. Subjects in both experiments exhibited greater sensitivity in detecting inconsistent changes (relative to consistent changes), suggesting that the dynamics specified by optical flow were incorporated in extrapolated orientation. In addition, sensitivity decreased with an increase in blackout duration. The results are discussed in terms of an extrapolation model of perception that incorporates the responses executed by active observers.