Haptic judgments of curvature by blind and sighted humans.

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Abstract
Investigated the relationship between active handling and veridical haptic curvature perception in 3 experiments. Exp. I showed that 16 blind undergraduates made more objective judgments of curves than did 16 sighted Ss. Videotape recordings of exploratory scanning during judgments revealed that the blind used a scanning technique allowing more global apprehension of the stimulus than sighted Ss, and that the 2 groups focused on different stimulus parts. In Exp. II, 60 sighted Ss' judgments became more objective when they were restricted to using the scanning technique characteristic of the blind. Exp. III with 60 undergraduate and graduate students suggested that sighted Ss' errors in Exp. I probably stemmed from using movements that obscured stimulus curvature. It is concluded that the blind's scanning technique (a) focused attention to an informative stimulus feature, and (b) provided a way to pattern the ends-to-middle relationship that specifies curvature. Implications for a theory of the role of exploratory activity in perception are discussed. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

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