The influence of recalibration of locomotion on spatial orientation

The relationship between biomechanical action and perception of self-motion during walking is typically consistent and well-learned but also adaptable. This perceptual-motor pairing can be recalibrated by creating a mismatch between the visual perception of self-motion and walking speed. Recalibration has been shown to influence subsequent distance judgments, but there are open questions regarding how broadly the calibration of walking influences spatial orientation, or knowledge of where one is in the environment. The present dissertation suggests that the interaction of visual perception and action influences spatial orientation via the process of spatial updating, or dynamically updating where one is while moving through space. Seven experiments examine this hypothesis by testing whether perceptual-motor calibration differentially affects different indicators of spatial orientation and whether the effects of calibration are modulated by environmental context. In each experiment, one judgment of spatial orientation is assessed prior to perceptual-motor recalibration. The perceptual-motor relationship involved in locomotion is then recalibrated by creating a mismatch between visual information about the rate of self-movement and the actions involved in locomotion. Following this recalibration, the same judgment of spatial orientation is again assessed. Experiments 1-5 suggest that adaptation to a new relationship between the visual perception of self-motion and the act of walking influenced subsequent locomotion, regardless of the biomechanical movements or effectors used to move through space. These experiments suggest that perceptual-motor calibration does not influence spatial orientation by changing perceived scale or distance or by changing the motor inputs to spatial orientation. Moreover, Experiments 1-5 suggest that the perceptual-motor calibration of walking may be a more salient cue for spatial updating than the calibration of less familiar forms of locomotion, such as using a wheelchair. Experiments 6 and 7 assessed the influence of recalibration on spatial orientation in virtual environments and demonstrated a similar pattern of results, suggesting that calibration has comparable effects in virtual environments. In both real and virtual environments, while moving through space, one updates the spatial relationships between him or herself and the objects in the environment as a function of the learned relationship between visual flow and the biomechanical movements involved in walking.