Perception of Lower Limb Position and Extension in Physically Disabled Children

Abstract

Physically disabled children judged the direction of position and the length of their legs (self object) and a standard stick (non-self object) as these were shifted through certain positions under a table. Legs were judged to be longer than they actually were, while the length of the stick was underestimated. The angles of displacement of the legs from the midline orientation of the body were overestimated both in positions of adduction and abduction. On the other hand, the stick was judged to be closer to the middle of the table than it actually was. As the degree of abduction increased, children had more difficulty judging the position of their legs and were less accurate in judging length of extension for the left leg only. An explanation of these results is proposed in terms of sensory-tonic field theory of perception.