Action influences on visual processing near the hands

视觉通常提供关于如何到达和抓住环境中的物体的信息。行动是否也能同样地影响我们对世界的视觉体验？这项研究的目的是确定伸手和抓住物体的能力是否能增强视觉信息，从而帮助人们更有效地与周围环境互动。这项研究还将评估以新颖的方式抓取物体的训练是否会影响人们的视觉体验。对抓取动作如何改变视觉感知的深入了解，可以为智能手机和平板电脑等手持移动设备的应用程序设计提供信息，并有助于定制界面，以增强用户体验和安全性。此外，该项目还为高中生和美国原住民大学生提供了参与STEM研究的机会（通过北达科他州州长学校计划和nsf资助的自然计划）。行动能力是如何塑造视觉认知的？观察者对周边空间内的物体（他们可以用手轻松抓住的物体）的处理方式与他们接触不到的物体不同。一系列心理物理实验评估了这样一种假设，即手附近可抓物体的视觉处理变化反映了视觉系统对行为环境的适应。托马斯博士将研究抓握姿势如何为行动创造支持，从而影响与行动相关的视觉信息的处理。在不同的视觉处理任务要求的情况下，还将评估与握力和精确握力姿势相关的视觉偏差。通过确定特定动作训练是否会改变观察者处理与动作相关的视觉信息的方式，将评估手附近视觉处理改变的潜在可塑性。这些实验探讨了自下而上和自上而下机制的潜在影响，这些机制可能有助于改变手部附近的视力，并确定与动态动作计划相关的视觉偏差与静态手部姿势相关的视觉偏差之间的关系。更一般地说，这项工作评估了身体位置与视觉感知、注意力和记忆之间关系的延展性。

Vision routinely provides information about how to reach for and grasp objects in the environment. Can action similarly inform our visual experience of the world? The goal of this research is to determine whether the ability to reach out and grasp an object enhances visual information that helps people interact more effectively with their immediate surroundings. The research will also assess whether training to grasp objects in novel ways can influence people's visual experience. An enhanced understanding of how the action of grasping might alter visual perception can inform the design of applications for handheld mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets and can help tailor interfaces to enhance user experience and safety. In addition, the project provides opportunities for high school students and Native American college students to become involved in STEM research (through the North Dakota Governor's School program and the NSF-funded NATURE program).How does the capacity for action shape visual cognition? Observers process objects that are within peripersonal space (objects they can easily grasp with their hands) differently than objects outside of their reach. A series of psychophysical experiments evaluates the hypothesis that changes in visual processing of graspable objects near the hands reflect an adaptation of the visual system to behavioral contexts. Dr. Thomas will examine how grasp posture creates affordances for action that bias processing of action-relevant visual information. Visual biases associated with power grip and precision grip postures will also be evaluated in situations with differing visual processing task demands. Potential plasticity of alterations in visual processing near the hands will be evaluated by determining whether action-specific training alters how observers process action-relevant visual information. These experiments explore the potential influence of both bottom-up and top-down mechanisms that may contribute to altered vision near the hands and determine the relationships between visual biases associated with the planning of dynamic actions and those associated with static hand postures. More generally, the work evaluates the malleability of the relationship between body position and visual perception, attention, and memory.