Action affects perception through modulation of attention

• Main Authors: Kirsch, W. (Author), Kitzmann, T. (Author), Kunde, W. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2021
• Subjects: Action; attention; Attention; depth perception; Feedback; feedback system; human; Humans; Movement; movement (physiology); perception; Perception; psychomotor performance; Psychomotor Performance; Space Perception
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 The present study explored the origin of perceptual changes repeatedly observed in the context of actions. In Experiment 1, participants tried to hit a circular target with a stylus movement under restricted feedback conditions. We measured the perception of target size during action planning and observed larger estimates for larger movement distances. In Experiment 2, we then tested the hypothesis that this action specific influence on perception is due to changes in the allocation of spatial attention. For this purpose, we replaced the hitting task by conditions of focused and distributed attention and measured the perception of the former target stimulus. The results revealed changes in the perceived stimulus size very similar to those observed in Experiment 1. These results indicate that action’s effects on perception root in changes of spatial attention. © 2021, The Author(s).