Abstract
We examined perceivers' ability to perceive the lengths of hand-held rods under dual-task conditions. Participants used magnitude estimation to report the whole (tip-to-tip) and partial (from the point of grasp to the forward tip) lengths of rods held in one hand. At the same time, participants had to perform with the other hand a rhythmic-aiming task of varying difficulty. The results indicated that haptically perceived length was relatively unaffected by dual-task conditions, although there were hints of a mild dual-task effect: Perceptual performance was slightly better when participants held the to-be-perceived rod still, as opposed to when they actively wielded it. The results of this research are important for understanding how people are able to divide attention in order to interact with hand-held tools while performing concurrent tasks.
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