We highlight the results of those studies that have investigated the plastic reorganization processes that occur within the human brain as a consequence of visual deprivation, as well as how these processes give rise to behaviorally observable changes in the perceptual processing of auditory and tactile information. We review the evidence showing…

In this study, the intuitive physics of free fall was explored using Information Integration Theory and Functional Measurement. The participants had to rate the speed of objects differing in mass and height of release at the end of an imagined free fall. According to physics, falling speed increases with height of release but it is substantially…

The ability to coordinate serial processing of multiple items is crucial for fluent reading but is known to be impaired in dyslexia. To investigate this impairment, we manipulated the orthographic and phonological similarity of adjacent letters online as dyslexic and nondyslexic readers named letters in a serial naming (RAN) task. Eye movements…

Adults can integrate multiple sensory estimates to reduce their uncertainty in perceptual and motor tasks. In recent studies, children did not show this ability until after 8 years. Here we investigated development of the ability to integrate vision with proprioception to localize the hand. We tested 109 4- to 12-year-olds and adults on a simple…

This petition is about two of the traditional three R's - reading, writing, and arithmetic; it concerns learning letter formation and learning to read, both of which require continuous interplay between the different perceptual attunements of central and paracentral areas of the retina. This interplay, managing the field of view between zooming-in…

Young infants perceive an object's trajectory as continuous across occlusion provided the temporal or spatial gap in perception is small. In 3 experiments involving 72 participants the authors investigated the effects of different forms of auditory information on 4-month-olds' perception of trajectory continuity. Provision of dynamic auditory…

In this paper we demonstrate how universal design theory and the research available on museum-based touch tours can be used to develop a touch tour for blind and low-vision theatregoers. We discuss these theoretical and practical approaches with reference to data collected and experience gained from the creation and execution of a touch tour for…

Forces are experienced in actions on objects. The mechanoreceptor system is stimulated by proximal forces in interactions with objects, and experiences of force occur in a context of information yielded by other sensory modalities, principally vision. These experiences are registered and stored as episodic traces in the brain. These stored…

Humans can rapidly extract object and category information from an image despite surprising limitations in detecting changes to the individual parts of that image. In this article we provide evidence that the construction of a perceptual whole, or Gestalt, reduces awareness of changes to the parts of this object. This result suggests that the…

Introduction: Research to date on social support for adolescents with visual impairments (that is, blindness or low vision) has been primarily carried out in developed countries, and very little is known about the social support systems that are available for such adolescents in developing countries such as those in the Arab world. In the present…

The Vision Partnership is an alliance between the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and One Sight Vision Partnership that began in 2007 to address the vision and vision-related health needs of students who cannot afford eye care services. Vision screenings, consultations, and fittings for corrective eyewear are provided at no cost to…

Previous research has suggested that the use of the fingers may play a functional role in the development of a mature counting system. However, the role of developmental vision in the elaboration of a finger numeral representation remains unexplored. In the current study, 14 congenitally blind children and 14 matched sighted controls undertook…

Schopenhauer's account of sense perception contains an acute critique of Kant's theory of cognition. His analysis of the role of the understanding in perception may be closer to Kant's than he conceded, but his physiological analysis of the role of the senses nonetheless proffers a more plausible account than Kant's transcendental conception of…

There is an ongoing controversy regarding the relationship between covert attention and saccadic eye movements. While there is quite some evidence that the preparation of a saccade is obligatory preceded by a shift of covert attention, the reverse is not clear: Is allocation of attention always accompanied by saccade preparation? Recently, a…

The aim of this study was to quantify the role of visual contribution in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) on balance maintenance using a force platform. We enrolled 14 individuals with PWS free from conditions associated with impaired balance, 44 obese (OG) and 20 healthy controls (CG). Postural sway was measured for 60 s while standing…