Differences in the Postural Responses to Approaching and Receding Sound Images in Subjects with Different Perceptual Styles

Abstract

A hypothesis on the universal character of perceptual style for analyzing the surrounding space during sensory interactions has been tested. The indices of postural responses to moving and stationary auditory images in the groups of field-dependent and field-independent subjects, i.e., those who perceive spatial information about the object considering or ignoring the background, respectively, have been investigated. The differences in the sway parameters in both groups were revealed only in the case of moving auditory images. Body sway was more prominent in the group of field-independent subjects, whereas in the subjects from the field-dependent group, backward body displacement was observed during listening to approaching auditory images. Therefore, the perceptual style is reflected in the vertical postural responses to auditory information about the motion in the acoustic space.