Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/175621
Title: Determining mean and standard deviation of the strong gravity prior through simulations
Author: Jörges, Björn
López-Moliner, Joan
Keywords: Gravitació
Aprenentatge sensorial
Gravitation
Perceptual learning
Issue Date: 19-Aug-2020
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Abstract: Humans expect downwards moving objects to accelerate and upwards moving objects to decelerate. These results have been interpreted as humans maintaining an internal model of gravity. We have previously suggested an interpretation of these results within a Bayesian framework of perception: earth gravity could be represented as a Strong Prior that overrules noisy sensory information (Likelihood) and therefore attracts the final percept (Posterior) very strongly. Based on this framework, we use published data from a timing task involving gravitational motion to determine the mean and the standard deviation of the Strong Earth Gravity Prior. To get its mean, we refine a model of mean timing errors we proposed in a previous paper (Jörges & López-Moliner, 2019), while expanding the range of conditions under which it yields adequate predictions of performance. This underscores our previous conclusion that the gravity prior is likely to be very close to 9.81 m/s2. To obtain the standard deviation, we identify different sources of sensory and motor variability reflected in timing errors. We then model timing responses based on quantitative assumptions about these sensory and motor errors for a range of standard deviations of the earth gravity prior, and find that a standard deviation of around 2 m/s2 makes for the best fit. This value is likely to represent an upper bound, as there are strong theoretical reasons along with supporting empirical evidence for the standard deviation of the earth gravity being lower than this value.
Note: Reproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236732
It is part of: PLoS One, 2020, vol. 15, num. 8, p. e0236732
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/175621
Related resource: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236732
ISSN: 1932-6203
Appears in Collections:Articles publicats en revistes (Cognició, Desenvolupament i Psicologia de l'Educació)

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