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A comparison of virtual locomotion methods in movement experts and non-experts: testing the contributions of body-based and visual translation for spatial updating

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Abstract

Both visual and body-based (vestibular and proprioceptive) information contribute to spatial updating, or the way a navigator keeps track of self-position during movement. Research has tested the relative contributions of these sources of information and found mixed results, with some studies demonstrating the importance of body-based information, especially for translation, and some demonstrating the sufficiency of visual information. Here, we invoke an individual differences approach to test whether some individuals may be more dependent on certain types of information compared to others. Movement experts tend to be dependent on motor processes in small-scale spatial tasks, which can help or hurt performance, but it is unknown if this effect extends into large-scale spatial tasks like spatial updating. In the current study, expert dancers and non-dancers completed a virtual reality point-to-origin task with three locomotion methods that varied the availability of body-based and visual information for translation: walking, joystick, and teleporting. We predicted decrements in performance in both groups as self-motion information was reduced, and that dancers would show a larger cost. Surprisingly, both dancers and non-dancers performed with equal accuracy in walking and joystick and were impaired in teleporting, with no large differences between groups. We found slower response times for both groups with reductions in self-motion information, and minimal evidence for a larger cost for dancers. While we did not see strong dance effects, more participation in spatial activities related to decreased angular error. Together, the results suggest a flexibility in reliance on visual or body-based information for translation in spatial updating that generalizes across dancers and non-dancers, but significant decrements associated with removing both of these sources of information.

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Data availability

Data are available in the Open Science Framework repository at https://osf.io/wujbs/ under https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/WUJBS.

Notes

  1. For sake of exploration, we looked at the difference in computed angles before and after the step. The average difference between pre- and post-step angle was 5.49˚ (SD = 6.38), reflecting minimal change in heading estimate.

  2. Post hoc pairwise contrasts revealed no significant difference (t = − .31, p = .95) between Walking (M = 20.2, SE = 2.30) and Joystick (M = 19.6, SE = 2.27) for the dancers. Teleporting errors (M = 26.5, SE = 2.63) were higher than both Walking (t = 3.21, p = .004) and Joystick (t = 3.52, p = .001).

  3. Post hoc pairwise contrasts revealed no difference (t = − .65, p = .8) between Walking (M = 20.5, SE = 1.96) and Joystick (M = 19.4, SE = 1.92) for the non-dancers. Teleporting error (M = 25.0, SE = 2.17) was higher than Walking (t = 2.35, p = .051) and significantly higher than Joystick (t = 2.96, p = .009).

  4. Post hoc contrasts revealed that Walking RT (M = 6.88, SE = .20) was significantly quicker than Joystick RT (M = 7.67, SE = .23, t = − 7.14, p < .001) and Teleporting RT (M = 8.21, SE = .24; t = − 11.48, p < .001) for the dancers. Joystick RT was also quicker than Teleporting (t = − 4.36, p < .001).

  5. Post hoc contrasts showed that Walking RT (M = 6.96, SE = .21) was significantly quicker than Joystick RT (M = 7.54, SE = .23; t = − 5.04, p < .001) and Teleporting RT (M = 7.90, SE = .24; t = − 8.06, p < .001). Joystick RT was also quicker than Teleporting (t = − 2.95, p = .01).

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Acknowledgements

We thank Michael Butler and Joshua Butner for their help with programming the VR paradigm and Jessica Stoker, Julia Cecil, and Nathan Caines for their help with recruitment and data collection. We thank Trafton Drew, John Franchak, and A. Mark Williams for their feedback on the project and are grateful to Brennan Payne for his advice on the statistical approach. This research was supported by a Philanthropic Education Organization (P.E.O.) Scholar Award and the National Science Foundation Grant number 1763254.

Funding

This research was supported by a Philanthropic Education Organization (P.E.O.) Scholar Award and the National Science Foundation grant number 1763254.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, PA, USA

    Erica M. Barhorst-Cates

  2. Psychology Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Jeanine K. Stefanucci & Sarah H. Creem-Regehr

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  1. Erica M. Barhorst-Cates
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Contributions

Conceptualization: EB, JS, SC; Methodology: EB, JS, SC; Formal analysis and investigation: EB; Writing—original draft preparation: EB; Writing—review and editing: SC, JS, EB; Funding acquisition: EB, JS, SC; Resources: SC, JS; Supervision: SC, JS.

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Correspondence to Erica M. Barhorst-Cates.

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All procedures were approved by the University of Utah Institutional Review Board and adhere to the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki.

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Communicated by Melvyn A. Goodale.

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Barhorst-Cates, E.M., Stefanucci, J.K. & Creem-Regehr, S.H. A comparison of virtual locomotion methods in movement experts and non-experts: testing the contributions of body-based and visual translation for spatial updating. Exp Brain Res 238, 1911–1923 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-020-05851-6

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