After all scenes were explored, the occluding windows were removed and participants indicated the location of the missing borders from memory using either the same or alternate modality. Results Boundary extension was evident in all conditions. Observers showed a striking tendency to move borders outward from their original position, revealing more of a scene than had initially been explored. Results show that input modality is a critical factor in determining how much spatial extrapolation occurs. Regions initially studied through vision were remembered as having been more expansive than those studied through touch, regardless of whether scene memory was tested visually or haptically.
Vision provides a wide spatial expanse with each eye movement.
Haptics only allows for a small spatial expanse per hand movement, possibly limiting the extent to which extrapolation will occur. Boundary extension may provide one way for sensory systems to overcome the limitations imposed by successively sampling a continuous world. To avoid being surprised upon making the next eye movement in a visual scan, or by feeling an unrevealed portion of a surface with our hands, anticipatory predictions are incorporated in the mental representation. Looking at pictures but remembering scenes.