My research demonstrates that action abilities influence perception.  For example, baseball players who are hitting better perceive the ball as bigger.  Hills look steeper when the perceiver is fatigued.  Objects look closer when the perceiver intends to reach to them with a tool.  Perception is not just about what is in the environment but also about the perceiver’s own body, abilities, and intentions.  In that sense, perception is action-modulated.

Current Research Projects:

• Role of Performance in Perception: We will interview athletes such as golfers and baseball players about their perceptions of the environment and correlate their perception with their performance.
• Role of Body Schema in Perception: We will manipulate people's bodies by giving them tools or constraining their movements and examine the resulting effects on their perception.
• Experiments in Virtual Reality: We will create custom environments in which our participants have unique skills.  As the participants learn their new skills, we will examine the corresponding changes in perception.

 Representative Publications:

Witt, J.K., Proffitt, D.R., & Epstein, W. (2004).  Perceiving distance: A role of effort and intent. Perception, 33, 570-590.

Witt, J.K., Proffitt, D.R., & Epstein, W. (2005).  Tool use affects perceived distance but only when you intend to use it.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 31, 880-888.

Witt, J.K., & Proffitt, D.R. (2005).  See the ball, hit the ball: Apparent ball size is correlated with batting average.  Psychological Science, 16, 937-938.

Do research in the AMP Lab (PSY 390)