Object size can influence perceived weight independent of visual estimates of the volume of material

Plaisier, Myrthe A.; Smeets, Jeroen B. J.

doi:10.1038/srep17719

Cited by 29 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The size of an object is one feature that typically informs the brain about its weight (Buckingham & MacDonald, 2016;Flanagan, Bittner, & Johansson, 2008;Plaisier & Smeets, 2015): Larger objects are often heavier, and this is especially true of objects that comprise the same material. This expectation is inherently violated in the SWI, in that the objects vary in volume but not mass.…”

Section: Weight Associations and The Swimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The results demonstrated that the distribution of mass within an object was a stronger predictor of perceived weight than was mass per se. Amazeen and Turvey argued that when their rods were wielded, the critical, action-relevant variable influencing weight perception was rotational inertia, rather than mass (see Plaisier &Smeets, 2015, andZhu, Shockley, Riley, Tolston, &Bingham, 2013, for results that are inconsistent with this proposal). In a similar manner, Zhu and Bingham (2011) demonstrated a tight coupling between the SWI and perception of the throwability of hand-held objects.…”

Section: Overview Of Theories Of the Swi And Other Weight Illusionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The tendency of the smaller of two objects of equal mass to feel heavier has been reported many times as researchers have attempted to understand the mechanisms accounting for this compelling illusion (see Buckingham, 2014, for a review). Both visual and somatosensory information about object size have been implicated in the SWI (Buckingham & Goodale, 2010b;Plaisier & Smeets, 2015), and the perceptual experience of the illusion persists in spite of (a) the knowledge that the objects have the same mass and (b) participants' having learned to apply the correct fingertip forces to match the objects' veridical weight during lifting (Flanagan & Beltzner, 2000;Grandy & Westwood, 2006). Although much remains to be understood about the SWI, and about our conscious experience of weight more generally, research in the field has provided valuable insight.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The influence of size in weight illusions is unique relative to other object features

Saccone

Chouinard

2018

Psychon Bull Rev

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Research into weight illusions has provided valuable insight into the functioning of the human perceptual system. Associations between the weight of an object and its other features, such as its size, material, density, conceptual information, or identity, influence our expectations and perceptions of weight. Earlier accounts of weight illusions underscored the importance of previous interactions with objects in the formation of these associations. In this review, we propose a theory that the influence of size on weight perception could be driven by innate and phylogenetically older mechanisms, and that it is therefore more deep-seated than the effects of other features that influence our perception of an object's weight. To do so, we first consider the different associations that exist between the weight of an object and its other features and discuss how different object features influence weight perception in different weight illusions. After this, we consider the cognitive, neurological, and developmental evidence, highlighting the uniqueness of size-weight associations and how they might be reinforced rather than driven by experience alone. In the process, we propose a novel neuroanatomical account of how size might influence weight perception differently than other object features do.

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Section: Weight Associations and The Swimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Overview Of Theories Of the Swi And Other Weight Illusionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The influence of size in weight illusions is unique relative to other object features

Saccone

Chouinard

2018

Psychon Bull Rev

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“…4 4 There are also variants of the size-weight illusion that approach the present result but do not imply the same consequences. For example, a single barbell-shaped object whose width (but not weight) can be physically adjusted may feel differently light or heavy depending on its size (Plaisier & Smeets, 2015), even though the same amount of material is seen. This phenomenon too may be viewed as "impossible" in some sense (since it is not physically possible for an object to get heavier simply by changing its shape -though it is possible for shape changes to produce differences in leverage and required lifting effort).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

"Impossible" somatosensation and the (ir)rationality of perception

Won¹,

Groß²,

Firestone³

2019

Preprint

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Impossible figures represent the world in ways it cannot be. From the work of M.C. Escher to any popular perception textbook, such experiences show how some principles of mental processing can be so entrenched and inflexible as to produce absurd and even incoherent outcomes that the perceiver knows cannot occur in reality. Surprisingly, however, such experiences have been conspicuously limited to visual perception; are there impossible experiences in other sensory modalities? Here, we modify a known conjurer’s trick to report the first impossible somatosensory experience — one that can be physically felt. We show that, even in full-cue conditions with objects that can be freely inspected, subjects can be made to experience a single object alone as feeling heavier than a group of objects that includes the single object as a member — an impossible and phenomenologically striking experience of weight. Impossibility can not only be seen, but also felt.

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“…In this illusion, a smaller object is judged to be heavier than an equally-weighted large object (see for reviews Buckingham, 2014; Dijker, 2014; Saccone & Chouinard, 2019). To induce the illusion, differences in the sizes of the objects can be perceived visually, haptically (Buckingham, 2019; Ellis & Lederman, 1993) or even illusory (de Brouwer, Smeets, & Plaisier, 2016) and can be independent of object volume (Plaisier & Smeets, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of TMS over the anterior intraparietal area on anticipatory fingertip force scaling and the size-weight illusion

Polanen

Buckingham

Davare

2020

Preprint

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In skilled object lifting, fingertip forces need to be carefully scaled to object weight, which can be inferred from object properties, such as size or material. This anticipatory force scaling ensures smooth and efficient lifting movements. However, even with accurate motor plans, weight perception can still be biased. In the size-weight illusion, objects of different size but equal weight are perceived to differ in heaviness, with the small object perceived to be heavier than the large object. The neural underpinnings of the size-weight illusion and anticipatory force scaling to object size are largely unknown. In this study, we hypothesized a possible role of the anterior intraparietal cortex (aIPS) in predictive force scaling and the size-weight illusion, which we investigated by applying continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) prior to participants lifting objects designed to induce the size-weight illusion. Participants received cTBS over aIPS, the primary motor cortex (control area), or sham stimulation. We found no evidence that aIPS stimulation affected the size-weight illusion. Small effects were, however, found on anticipatory force scaling, where grip force was less tuned to object size during initial lifts. These findings suggest that, while aIPS might be peripherally involved in sensorimotor prediction, other brain areas underpin the processes that mediate the size-weight illusion.

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Object size can influence perceived weight independent of visual estimates of the volume of material

Cited by 29 publications

References 16 publications

The influence of size in weight illusions is unique relative to other object features

The influence of size in weight illusions is unique relative to other object features

"Impossible" somatosensation and the (ir)rationality of perception

Effects of TMS over the anterior intraparietal area on anticipatory fingertip force scaling and the size-weight illusion

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