Visual perception of lifted weight

The weight of a box can be seen by observing another person lifting and carrying it. Evidence for this phenomenon is provided in 2 experiments, the first of which employed videotaped events with the actor and box visible only as 21 bright patches. Observers (26 25-55 yr old undergraduates and faculty members) judged the weight of the box linearly with an average slope of .87 and with a pooled standard deviation of 3.8 kg. Exp II compared visual and haptic perception of box weight in similar events under conditions of live action. Average slopes of 1.00 in the visual mode and 1.20 in the haptic mode were obtained with standard deviations of 3.1 and 2.0 kg, respectively. It is concluded that the weight of the box, as a dynamic variable of the event, was well specified in the kinematic pattern and hence in the optic array. Furthermore, the visual system was efficient in picking up such information. (15 ref)