The influence of body exercise on the perception of kinesthetic and visual stimulus objects

Abstract

The present study investigated the influence of body exercise on kinesthetic figural aftereffect (KFAE), the perception of the vertical, and the reversal rate of a Necker cube. Each of 4# subjects was tested twice on a task, either KFAE, Verticality, or Necker cube on three different occasions - a different task being used on each occasion. The stimulus conditions resulted in significant KFAE, displacement of the vertical, and increase in reversal rate of the cube. Whereas subjects in Experiment I tilted their heads for the verticality task. Experiment II was designed to test the effect of exercise, without head tilt, on the perception of the vertical. Failure to find a significant displacement of the vertical in the second study was interpreted to mean that the results of the first experiment with the verticality task was due to imposing tonic effects on ongoing tonic effects. When the initial level of performance was removed, there was found to be individual differences across tasks. The data from the present study lent general support to Wertheimer's metabolic modification of Satiation Theory.