CROSS MODAL EQUIVALENCE OF SPATIAL DATA DISPLAYS

John B. Pierce Laboratory, Inc., New Haven CT

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from Applicant?s abstract): Perceivers can map or translate a dimension from one sense modality to another, despite clear differences in the inherent ways that these modalities (vision, hearing, touch) process events occurring over time and in space. One example of this is in the display of spatial data, such as line graphs, scatter plots, and two-dimensional shapes. Although usually presented visually, alternative displays in other modalities can sometimes successfully present such information, implying performance equivalencies in informational structures across modalities. A series of multi-dimensional scaling tasks will be performed and the resultant solutions compared to identify the extent to which equivalent performance is the result of equivalent perceptual structure. A series of two-alternative, forced-choice tasks will be performed to demonstrate that the processing of such graphs is in fact one of converting sensory stimuli into a mental (spatial) representation. Speeded classification tasks with various related and unrelated distractors will then be performed to demonstrate the effect of cooperative and counter-operative interaction between the modalities. The culmination of these experiments will help to provide greater understanding into the ways in which previously understood physiological mechanisms of individual modalities interact with one another in the (phenomenological) process of perception.