Importance of head axes in perception of cutaneous patterns drawn on vertical body surfaces

Abstract

The "disembodied eye" phenomenon (Corcoran, 1977), that is, the observation that a cutaneous (tactile) pattern is perceived as right-left reversed or not, depending on whether it is presented on the forehead or the back of the head, was extended by incorporating a top-bottom axis into a model of the frame of reference in cutaneous-pattern perception. In two experiments, 21 and 15 subjects were asked to report the letter perceived when one of four letters (p, q, b, or d) was tactually presented. The sites studied were vertical body surfaces (Experiment 1) and hands alongside the body (Experiment 2). The positions for the presentations varied according to the height (head, shoulder, waist, thigh, and calf levels) and the orientation of the surface: forward-, backward-, and side-facing. Although the results for the head and back surfaces supported the notion of a "disembodied eye" behind the individual, other frames were needed: On the forward-facing surfaces below the waist, the prevailing perception was 180 degrees rotated, as if the subjects were looking at the surface by bending forward. An additional frame of reference was introduced for the forward-facing surfaces in lower positions and was described as head axes projected onto body surfaces within the possibility of actual body movements.