Question 1

A ballistic movement is:

Accepted Answer

A ballistic movement is a rapid, pre-programmed action that the body performs without using feedback to adjust its trajectory. This means the movement is decided upon and executed without ongoing adjustments based on sensory input during the movement itself.

Question 2

When an object appears in the path of the hand during a reach, how is behaviour affected?

Accepted Answer

The reacher usually takes avoiding action to avoid collision with the object that appears in the path of the hand during a reach. This demonstrates the ability to adapt movements to changes in the environment.

Question 3

In Buckingham and Goodale's study, participants lifted a cube which they could not see. Before each lift, they saw either a large or a small cube, whose size biased the apparent weight of the medium cube. This effect shows that:

Accepted Answer

The study by Buckingham and Goodale demonstrates that participants' expectations, influenced by the visual size of an object, can affect their perception of the object's weight, illustrating the role of top-down processing in the Size-Weight Illusion.

Question 4

Abrams et al. found that search for a target in an array of distractors was slower when the display was presented near the hands. They suggested that:

Accepted Answer

Abrams et al. suggested that stimuli near the hands receive more thorough evaluation, which takes more time, leading to slower search for a target in an array of distractors. This is based on the idea that objects near the hands are more relevant for potential action, and thus, the brain allocates more resources to processing them.

Question 5

Makris et al. found that the nature of an object presented before a high or low tone primed participants to use a precision or a power grip in responding to the tones, but only when binocular vision was used. Their explanation for this was that:

Accepted Answer

Binocular viewing enhances the perception of the three-dimensional (3D) nature of objects, making it easier for participants to associate specific grips with the objects they see. This depth perception is crucial for determining how to interact physically with objects in our environment.

Question 6

The importance of vision in maintaining posture is shown by:

Accepted Answer

Vision plays a crucial role in maintaining posture by providing the brain with visual cues about the body's position in space. When lighting is reduced or visual acuity is diminished, these cues are less available, leading to an increase in body sway as the body struggles to maintain balance without the usual visual information.

Question 7

Participants of Rushton et al. walked in a curved path towards a target when fitted with prisms which moved the visual scene sideways. The authors suggested that this was because:

Accepted Answer

The prisms altered the visual direction without affecting optic flow, leading participants to adjust their walking path towards the target based on the shifted visual input.

Question 8

Time-To-Collision is thought to be important in:

Accepted Answer

Judgements involved in safe driving require an accurate estimation of the time-to-collision with other vehicles or objects.

Question 9

The time window with which a skilled batter can hit a moving ball can be as short as

Accepted Answer

The time window with which a skilled batter can hit a moving ball can be as short as 2 ms. This is because the batter must be able to track the ball's movement and adjust their swing accordingly in order to make contact with the ball.

Question 10

Prinz's view of actions is that they are controlled by:

Accepted Answer

Prinz's view, known as the common coding theory, suggests that actions and perceptions are controlled by a shared neural code, meaning that the processes for perceiving an action and carrying out that action are linked at a fundamental level.

Question 11

How have our views of reaching to grasp been modified by experiments?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How have our views of reaching to...

Question 12

How is the Size-Weight Illusion to be explained?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How is the Size-Weight Illusion to be...

Question 13

How does adjacency to the hand affect visual perception?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How does adjacency to the hand affect...

Question 14

How does a batter manage to hit a ball?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How does a batter manage to hit...

Question 15

Do perception and motor control use a common code?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Do perception and motor control use a...

Quiz 11: Perception and Action