ABSTRACT
Sensory augmentation provides novel opportunities to broaden our knowledge of human perception through external sensors that record and transmit information beyond natural perception. To assess whether such augmented senses affect the acquisition of spatial knowledge during navigation, we trained a group of 27 participants for six weeks with an augmented sense for cardinal directions called the feelSpace belt. Then, we recruited a control group that did not receive the augmented sense and the corresponding training. All 53 participants first explored the Westbrook virtual reality environment for two and a half hours spread over five sessions before assessing their spatial knowledge in four immersive virtual reality tasks measuring cardinal, route, and survey knowledge. We found that the belt group acquired significantly more accurate cardinal and survey knowledge, which was measured in pointing accuracy, distance, and rotation estimates. Interestingly, the augmented sense also positively affected route knowledge, although to a lesser degree. Finally, the belt group reported a significant increase in the use of spatial strategies after training, while the groups' ratings were comparable at baseline. The results suggest that six weeks of training with the feelSpace belt led to improved survey and route knowledge acquisition. Moreover, the findings of our study could inform the development of assistive technologies for individuals with visual or navigational impairments, which may lead to enhanced navigation skills and quality of life.
ABSTRACT
Resumen La discusión en torno a la influencia del ambiente sobre la ontogenia ha alimentado la interrogante sobre cuál es el grado en el que, a través de la manipulación del contexto, se modifican las características de los individuos. Actualmente, la evidencia científica desde distintos campos (e.g., Psicología del desarrollo, Neurociencias) describe cómo el ambiente es capaz de modular los procesos del desarrollo y las distintas capacidades del cerebro, así como los mecanismos plásticos que subyacen a dicha modulación. Con base en esta evidencia, distintas aproximaciones metodológicas orientadas a la estimulación temprana (ET) se han propuesto potenciar el desarrollo o remediar problemas que se presentan durante las etapas tempranas del ciclo vital. En este contexto, se brinda una revisión del tema y se ofrece un marco teórico general sobre los antecedentes y sobre los principios que sustentan la estimulación del sistema nervioso (i.e., plasticidad cerebral). Además, a través de una aproximación empírica y un proceso de revisión bibliográfica, se presenta la evidencia disponible de algunos de los métodos de mayor conocimiento/uso en Costa Rica (i.e., Doman- Delacato, Snoezelen®, Point y Bebé Políglota). Al recapitular los alcances y las limitaciones de la ET, se concluye que es necesario sistematizar las experiencias profesionales de forma tal que permitan abrir un debate académico sobre el tema.
Abstract The discussion about environmental influence on ontogeny has fueled the question about how much context manipulation can regulate individuals' characteristics. Today, scientific evidence from different fields (e.g., developmental psychology, neuroscience) describes not only how environment can modulate brain development and function, but also the plastic mechanisms involved. In consequence, different methodological approximations of early stimulation (ES) have arisen, although they are not necessarily based on solid empirical evidence. In this context, a brief approximation to the ES background is provided, as well as a general framework about brain plasticity. In addition, the theoretical and practical perspective of the ES practitioners is also described by detailing the empirical evidence around its most known/used variants in Costa Rica (i.e., Doman-Delacato, Snoezelen®, Point and Bebé políglota). Finally, bringing up the scope and limitations of ES, we conclude that the professional experiences need to be systematized, in order to open an academic debate on the subject.
