Do Our Hands See What Our Eyes See: Investigating the Relationships Between Spatial and Haptic Abilities.

Despite significant difference in SA, when individuals are presented identical environmental 3D objects to view, view and touch, or touch alone, it is difficult to differentiate SA. These data suggest that the addition of haptic sensory information may aid LSA individuals completing spatial tasks. Although visual attention and timing of haptic behaviours may be similar between H/LSA subjects, further kinematic analysis of haptic strategies may be more meaningful to isolate how somatosensory inputs aid problem solving behaviours in LSA persons. This is some of the first data to simultaneously measure hand and gaze behaviour during spatially challenging tasks in individuals with divergent SA. Given recent migrations to online anatomy teaching and learning environments due to COVID-19, understanding learner behaviour when sensory inputs, like haptics, are removed is valuable evidence that can inform future anatomy curriculum and resource development.