Effects of varying the apparent tilt of the inspection figure on a kinaesthetic after-effect

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted to determine whether kinaesthetic after-effects, measured by settings of a bar to the horizontal, are controlled by the apparent or the physical tilt of the bar during inspection. Two arrangements were used to induce a discrepancy between apparent and physical tilt. Data obtained with one arrangement did not permit a proper test of the issue. With the other arrangement either distorted or undistorted visual information about tilt was present during kinaesthetic inspection. It was found that post-inspection settings were displaced from pre-inspection settings in the direction of the tilt of the inspection figure when there was no discrepancy between information presented by the two modalities. When there was a discrepancy, the displacements attributable to apparent tilt were in the direction opposite to the apparent tilt of the inspection figure. The former effects dissipated rapidly after inspection; the latter did not. It is suggested that after-effects obtained following an inspection period during which there is no discrepancy between physical and apparent tilt are controlled by the physical tilt of the inspection figure and that apparent tilt, when it is an effective variable, operates by modifying the judgemental frame of reference.