Transfer of Recalibration in Perceiving Surface Distance With a Haptic Sensory Substitution Device

Studies have shown that, to a large extent, performance of a given perceptual task is independent of the specific sensitivities of the anatomical components used to perform that task. Consequently, the object of calibration—what it is that people become calibrated to when performing a given perceptual task—may be likewise independent of the specific sensitivities of the anatomical components used to perform that task. The experiment reported here used a transfer of calibration paradigm to investigate this hypothesis as well as the more specific hypothesis that the object of calibration is independent of the sensitivity of a given anatomical component to the particulars of a given energy form. In a pretest and posttest, participants perceived the distance of an occluded surface by two different modalities—by exploring that surface with a wooden rod and by doing so with and Enactive Torch, a vibrotactile sensory-substitution device. In a practice session, we manipulated which modality participants used to perform this task (Rod or Enactive Torch) and whether feedback about performance was provided. We found that, when feedback was provided during the practice session, recalibration of perception of surface distance transferred from the rod to the Enactive Torch, and vice versa. This pattern of results is consistent with the hypothesis that the object of calibration in this perceptual task is (potentially) independent of the particular form of mechanical energy generated when exploring the surface.