Getting completely turned around: how disorientation impacts subjective straight ahead

Authors

Benjamin A. Kramer, George Washington University
John W. Philbeck, University of WollongongFollow
Stephen Dopkins, George Washington University
Darin Hoyer, George Washington University
Jesse Sargent, George Washington University, Francis Marion University
Jennifer M. Perry, George Washington University

RIS ID

92692

Publication Details

Kramer, B. A., Philbeck, J. W., Dopkins, S., Hoyer, D., Sargent, J. Q. & Perry, J. M. (2015). Getting completely turned around: how disorientation impacts subjective straight ahead. Memory and Cognition, 43 (1), 143-150.

Abstract

In manipulating a pointer to indicate subjective straight ahead (SSA), participants were more variable after a series of whole-body rotations in conjunction with external sensory blockade than after external sensory blockade alone. The variability of reported SSA did not increase consequent to a temporal delay matched to the time taken by the rotation procedure. These results suggest that an observer's egocentric reference frame is more complex and less stable than has previously been thought.