Skip to main content

Haptic Recognition of Non-figurative Tactile Pictures in the Blind: Does Life-Time Proportion without Visual Experience Matter?

  • Conference paper
Haptics: Generating and Perceiving Tangible Sensations (EuroHaptics 2010)

Abstract

The present study tests whether age at onset of total blindness and the proportion of life-time without visual experience affect the haptic processing and recognition of tactile pictures in a sample of 20 totally blind adults. We also examine the type of mental strategy (visual, non-visual) used to perform the haptic recognition task. The results indicate that haptic processing of non-figurative tactile pictures may be efficiently achieved with different levels of visual experience and different strategies in totally blind adults. Interestingly, they also reveal interplays between strategy and the proportion of life-time without visual experience.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Eriksson, Y.: Tactile Pictures: Pictorial Representations for the Blind. Gothenburg University Press, Gothenburg (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Kennedy, J.M.: Drawing and the Blind. Yale University Press, New Haven (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Heller, M.A.: Tactile Picture Perception in Blind and Sighted People. Behav. Brain Res. 135, 65–68 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Caddeo, P., Fornara, F., Nenci, A., Piroldi, A.: Wayfinding Tasks in Visually Impaired People: The Role of Tactile Maps. Cogn. Process. 7, 168–169 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Jehoel, S., Ungar, S., McCallum, D., Rowell, J.: An Evaluation of Substrates for Tactile Maps and Diagrams: Scanning Speed and User Preferences. J. Vis. Impair. Blind. 99, 85–95 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bailes, S.M., Lambert, R.M.: Cognitive Aspects of Haptic Form Recognition by Blind and Sighted Subjects. Br. J. Psychol. 77, 451–458 (1986)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Heller, M.A.: Picture and Pattern Perception in the Sighted and Blind: The Advantage of the Late Blind. Perception 18, 379–389 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lederman, S.J., Klatzky, R.L., Chataway, C., Summers, C.: Visual Mediation and the Haptic Recognition of Two-Dimensional Pictures of Common Objects. Percept. Psychopsys. 47, 54–64 (1990)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Thompson, L.J., Chronicle, E.P.: Beyond Visual Conventions: Rethinking the Design of Tactile Diagrams. Br. J. Vis. Impair. 24, 76–82 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cornoldi, C., Tinti, C., Mammarella, I.C., Re, A.M., Varotto, D.: Memory for an Imagined Pathway and Strategy Effects in Sighted and in Totally Congenitally Blind Individuals Acta. Psychol. 130, 11–16 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Vanlierde, A., Wanet-Defalque, M.C.: Abilities and Strategies of Blind and Sighted Subjects in Visuo-Spatial Imagery. Acta. Psychol. 116, 205–222 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Grier, J.B.: Nonparametric Indexes for Sensitivity and Bias: Computing Formulas. Psychol. Bull. 75, 424–429 (1971)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Mann, H.B., Whitney, D.R.: On a test of whether one of two random variables is stochastically larger than the other. Annals of Math. Stat. 18, 50–60 (1947)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  14. Postma, A., Zuidhoek, S., Noordzij, M.L., Kappers, A.M.: Differences between Early-blind, Late-blind and Blindfolded-sighted People in Haptic Spatial-Configuration Learning and Resulting Memory Traces. Perception 36, 1253–1265 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Hollins, M.: Styles of Mental Imagery in Blind Adults. Neuropsychologia 23, 561–566 (1985)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Lebaz, S., Picard, D., Jouffrais, C. (2010). Haptic Recognition of Non-figurative Tactile Pictures in the Blind: Does Life-Time Proportion without Visual Experience Matter?. In: Kappers, A.M.L., van Erp, J.B.F., Bergmann Tiest, W.M., van der Helm, F.C.T. (eds) Haptics: Generating and Perceiving Tangible Sensations. EuroHaptics 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6192. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14075-4_61

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14075-4_61

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-14074-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-14075-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics