Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2009 Jun;86(6):595-8.
doi: 10.1097/OPX.0b013e3181a72999.

Visual-haptic mapping and the origin of cross-modal identity

Richard Held  1
Affiliations
Review

Visual-haptic mapping and the origin of cross-modal identity

Richard Held. Optom Vis Sci. 2009 Jun.

Abstract

We found that congenitally blind people who gain sight initially fail to identify seen objects with their felt versions: a negative answer to the Molyneux question. However, they succeed in doing so after a few days of sight. We argue that this rapid learning resembles that of adaptation to rearrangement in which the experimentally produced separations of seen and felt perceptions of objects are rapidly reunited by the process called capture. Moreover, the original ability to identify objects across modalities by the neonate may be assured by the same process.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Morgan MJ. Molyneux's Question: Vision, Touch, and the Philosophy of Perception. Cambridge University Press; Cambridge: 1977.
    1. von Senden M. Space and Sight: The Perception of Space and Shape in Congenitally Blind Before and After Operation. Methuen; London: 1960.
    1. Fine I, Smallman HS, Doyle P, MacLeod DI. Visual function before and after the removal of bilateral congenital cataracts in adulthood. Vision Res. 2002;42:191–210. - PubMed
    1. Ostrovsky Y, Andalman A, Sinha P. Vision following extended congenital blindness. Psychol Sci. 2006;17:1009–14. - PubMed
    1. Mandavilli A. Visual neuroscience: look and learn. Nature. 2006;441:271–2. - PubMed

Publication types