Pictures as supramodal sensory individuals

For many psychologists, there are tactile pictures—that is, pictures recognized as such via a tactile perceptual mode, notably by the congenitally blind. While the recognitional theory of depiction fully accounts for these data, the subjective resemblance theories have questioned them. For these theories there can be no tactile pictures because, unlike sight, touch has no perceptual point of origin. However, such theories are questionable in this respect. Neuroscience findings show that the congenitally blind can gain perspectival access via touch to the shape of objects and the relations between their depth placements in three-dimensional scenes. More radically, it is hypothesized in this chapter that the congenitally blind, by means of touch, are even able to perceive those three-dimensional groupings in a two-dimensional picture that determine the figurative value of the picture. One can explain these abilities by claiming that not only the perception of shape and depth, but also that of three-dimensional groupings, is supramodal.