Cite as:
Lommertzen J, van Lier R, Meulenbroek R G J, 2009, "Grasping partly occluded objects: Effects of global stimulus information on action" Perception 38(2) 200 – 214
Download citation data in RIS format

Grasping partly occluded objects: Effects of global stimulus information on action

Janneke Lommertzen, Rob van Lier, Ruud G J Meulenbroek

Received 20 May 2008, in revised form 12 August 2008

Abstract. We investigated here how partly occluded stimuli affect early and late prehension kinematics. Stimuli were pictures of partly occluded cylindrical objects with indentations or protrusions at regular intervals along the contour. They diverged into two plausible completions: a local completion, comprising a linear continuation of the contour, and a global completion, revealing a continuation of the contour indentations. Convergent stimuli with one plausible completion acted as controls. Twenty-eight participants repeatedly performed a grasping movement in darkness, as if they grasped the earlier-seen partly occluded cylinder. The peak acceleration of the hand opening (occurring at about 20% of the movement time) and the maximum hand aperture (at about 60% of the movement time) were taken to reflect the representation of the width of the stimuli used for action. The results show that the grasping movements were affected not only by local but also by global stimulus properties of which the representation remained stable over time.

Restricted material:

 Full-text PDF size: 757 Kb

 References  26 references, 23 with DOI links ()

Your computer (IP address: 107.20.7.65) has not been recognised as being on a network authorised to view the full text or references of this article. If you are a member of a university library that has a subscription to the journal, please contact your serials librarian (subscriptions information).