Dynamic action in virtual environments: Constraints on the accessibility of action knowledge in children and adults

• Published in: Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) Vol. 62; no. 2; pp. 335 - 351
• Main Authors: Daum, Moritz M., Krist, Horst
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England Psychology Press 01.02.2009; SAGE Publications
• Subjects: Adult; Aging - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child development; Developmental psychology; Environment; Feedback, Psychological - physiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Intuitive physics; Male; Motion Perception - physiology; Nonlinear Dynamics; Perceptual-motor knowledge; Photic Stimulation - methods; Projectile motion; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Time Factors; User-Computer Interface; Virtual environments; Young Adult; Perceptual-motor knowledge; Projectile motion; Virtual environments; Intuitive physics; Human; Motion; Accessibility; Experimental study; Knowledge; Projectile; School age; Vision; Body movement; Virtual reality; Adult; Perception; Child
• ISSN: 1747-0218; 1747-0226
• DOI: 10.1080/17470210801954868

In a series of three experiments, we probed the accessibility of action knowledge in different versions of a virtual environment (VE) with 7-year-old children and adults. Using a PHANToM TM haptic interface, participants performed a virtual throwing task in which they tried to propel a ball from a table to hit a target on the ground. In Experiments 1 and 2, the virtual scene was presented on a computer monitor, and, in Experiment 3, it was projected by using a video projector so that the vertical and horizontal dimensions and the spatial location of the VE corresponded to the real-world dimensions. Results indicate that action knowledge is accessible even in a nonimmersive VE, but also suggest that the need to recalibrate perceptual-motor mappings constrains the accessibility of this kind of intuitive knowledge.