Proprioceptive drift without illusions of ownership for rotated hands in the “rubber hand illusion” paradigm

Abstract

The rubber hand illusion is one reliable way to experimentally manipulate the experience of body ownership. However, debate continues about the necessary and sufficient conditions eliciting the illusion. We measured proprioceptive drift and the subjective experience (via questionnaire) while manipulating two variables that have been suggested to affect the intensity of the illusion. First, the rubber hand was positioned either in a posturally congruent position, or rotated by 180°. Second, either the anatomically same rubber hand was used, or an anatomically incongruent one. We found in two independent experiments that a rubber hand rotated by 180° leads to increased proprioceptive drift during synchronous visuo-tactile stroking, although it does not lead to feelings of ownership (as measured by questionnaire). This dissociation between drift and ownership suggests that proprioceptive drift is not necessarily a valid proxy for the illusion when using hands rotated by 180°.

Keywords:

• Body representation
• Embodiment
• Rotation
• Touch
• Visuo-tactile

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from the ESRC awarded to J.W. (Grant no. RES-062-23-1150).

Notes

¹Although we found effects of Synchrony on subjective experiences of the illusion, the mean ratings in Experiment 1 tended to be negative (i.e., people tended to choose “disagree” rather than “agree”). If we compare just those people who reported a positive score on the r-synchronous ownership questions (n = 11) then we still get significant proprioceptive drift effects for the R, t(10) = 2.88, p < .05, and R180, t(10) = 2.70, p < .05, conditions but not for the L180 condition, t(10) = 0.05, n.s.