A comparison of blindpulling and blindwalking as measures of perceived absolute distance. 2010

John W Philbeck, and Adam J Woods, and Carly Kontra, and Petra Zdenkova
Department of Psychology, George Washington University, 2125 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20052, USA. philbeck@gwu.edu

Blindwalking has become a common measure of perceived absolute distance and location, but it requires a relatively large testing space and cannot be used with people for whom walking is difficult or impossible. In the present article, we describe an alternative response type that is closely matched to blindwalking in several important respects but is less resource intensive. In the blindpulling technique, participants view a target, then close their eyes and pull a length of tape or rope between the hands to indicate the remembered target distance. As with blindwalking, this response requires integration of cyclical, bilateral limb movements over time. Blind-pulling and blindwalking responses are tightly linked across a range of viewing conditions, and blindpulling is accurate when prior exposure to visually guided pulling is provided. Thus, blindpulling shows promise as a measure of perceived distance that may be used in nonambulatory populations and when the space available for testing is limited.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D004215 Distance Perception The act of knowing or the recognition of a distance by recollective thought, or by means of a sensory process which is under the influence of a set of prior experiences. Distance Discrimination,Discrimination, Distance,Discriminations, Distance,Perception, Distance
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293 Adolescent A person 13 to 18 years of age. Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D013037 Spatial Behavior Reactions of an individual or groups of individuals with relation to the immediate surrounding area including the animate or inanimate objects within that area. Behavior, Spatial,Behaviors, Spatial,Spatial Behaviors
D016138 Walking An activity in which the body advances at a slow to moderate pace by moving the feet in a coordinated fashion. This includes recreational walking, walking for fitness, and competitive race-walking. Ambulation
D055815 Young Adult A person between 19 and 24 years of age. Adult, Young,Adults, Young,Young Adults

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