Abstract
Vision is not the only modality capable of perceiving space, as haptics is also able to perceive space. However, haptics are only able to perceive a limited number of objects at a time. Thus haptic spatial representations can be seen as being made from sequential haptic inputs. The present study aimed to investigate this issue using a change detection task. Participants were asked to remember the order of 6 cups which were either spatially located, allowing for arm movement, or experimenter handed, not allowing arm movements, then to answer whether there were any changes in order of cups in the recognition test phase. Results showed that participants performed better when they were able to move their arms, suggesting that haptic spatial representations are not stored as simple sequential haptic inputs. The present study suggested that active motion plays a key role in the formation and storage of haptic spatial representations.
