Abstract
The present study investigated the incorporation of task-specific objects into our body schema (i.e., tool appropriation/embodiment). Previous research on tool appropriation suggests that, through physical interaction with a tool, the representation of our body is adjusted to "embody" the tool. The present experiment considered the different mediums in which a tool-use can be learned. To this end, participants were asked to complete an adapted body-part compatibility task before and after completing a real or virtual tool interaction task in which they moved objects around with a rake (participants used buttons on a keyboard to control the rake in the virtual task). Participants were presented with images of a person holding a rake and were required to execute hand- and foot-press responses to coloured targets (red and blue, respectively) superimposed on the hand, foot and rake of the image. Consistent with previous research on the body-part compatibility effect, response times (RTs) were shorter when the responding limb and the target location were compatible (e.g., hand responses to targets on the hand) than when they were incompatible (e.g., hand responses to targets on the foot). Evidence for tool embodiment after real experience was observed because hand RTs to targets presented on the hand were shorter than RTs to targets on the rake prior to experience, but there was no difference between RTs to targets on the hand and rake after the real rake task. The similarity in RTs emerged because there was a significant reduction in RTs to targets on the rake following experience. In contrast, hand RTs to targets on the rake did not change with virtual rake experience. These data suggest that the virtual tool interaction in the present experimental conditions was not sufficient for participants to embody the tool.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2014