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THE EFFECT OF VARYING THE TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN EQUAL AND OPPOSITE CORIOLIS ACCELERATIONS
Author(s) -
REASON JAMES T.,
GRAYBIEL ASHTON
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1971.tb02027.x
Subject(s) - psychology , interval (graph theory) , illusion , sensation , stimulus (psychology) , torsion pendulum clock , mechanics , time perception , physics , classical mechanics , mathematics , cognitive psychology , perception , neuroscience , quantum mechanics , combinatorics
The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effect of varying the time interval between two equal and opposite Coriolis accelerations upon the duration of the subjective responses evoked by the second stimulus. It was also designed to evaluate certain predictions generated from a ‘torsion pendulum’ model of the neural events mediating these subjective phenomena. Theoretical curves derived from the torsion pendulum model approximated fairly closely the way in which the reported durations of the subjective phenomena increased as a function of the time interval between the two Coriolis accelerations. This result supported the a priori assumption that the neural events underlying the subjective phenomena are closely linked to mechanical events occurring within the cupula‐endolymph system. However, an explanation resting entirely upon peripheral phenomena would be inadequate to account for two additional findings: (1) the estimated time constants of signal decay were shorter than those expected on the basis of the known mechanics of the semicircular canal system, and (2) the persistence of the Coriolis sensation (feelings of apparent whole body motion without visual reference) was greater at all intervals than the Coriolis oculogyral illusion. Adequate explanation of these findings requires the postulation of additional central mechanisms.