eprintid: 1474020
rev_number: 24
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/01/47/40/20
datestamp: 2016-01-19 17:29:09
lastmod: 2021-09-26 22:45:27
status_changed: 2016-01-19 17:29:09
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Cheng, T
title: Obstacles to Testing Molyneux's Question Empirically
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B04
divisions: C05
keywords: Molyneux question, blind subjects, movement, raised-line drawings, amodal representation, touch
note: Creative Commons CC-BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
(http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without
further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (http://www.uk.
sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm).
abstract: There have recently been various empirical attempts to answer Molyneux’s question, for example,
the experiments undertaken by the Held group. These studies, though intricate, have encountered
some objections, for instance, from Schwenkler, who proposes two ways of improving the
experiments. One is ‘‘to re-run [the] experiment with the stimulus objects made to move, and/
or the subjects moved or permitted to move with respect to them’’ (p. 94), which would promote
three dimensional or otherwise viewpoint-invariant representations. The other is ‘‘to use
geometrically simpler shapes, such as the cube and sphere in Molyneux’s original proposal, or
planar figures instead of three-dimensional solids’’ (p. 188). Connolly argues against the first
modification but agrees with the second. In this article, I argue that the second modification is
also problematic (though still surmountable), and that both Schwenkler and Connolly are too
optimistic about the prospect of addressing Molyneux’s question empirically.
date: 2015
date_type: published
official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2041669515599330
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1096384
doi: 10.1177/2041669515599330
lyricists_name: Cheng, Tsu-Jui
lyricists_id: TCHEN53
actors_name: Gibson, Alice
actors_id: AGIBS47
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: i-Perception
volume: 6
number: 4
issn: 2041-6695
citation:        Cheng, T;      (2015)    Obstacles to Testing Molyneux's Question Empirically.                   i-Perception , 6  (4)      10.1177/2041669515599330 <https://doi.org/10.1177/2041669515599330>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1474020/1/i-Perception-2015-Cheng-.pdf