Which two modalities are identified as the types of active perception?

• A. Haptics and touch
• B. Olfaction and gustation
• C. Proprioception and kinesthesia
• D. Vision and hearing

Answer: (A)

Active perception relies on moving to gather information about the world. The two modalities here are haptics and touch. Haptics is the active exploration that combines hand movements with proprioceptive feedback to learn about an object’s properties—its texture, shape, stiffness, and so on. Touch is the skin-based sensation that provides the tactile signals you feel when you contact something. Together, they capture how we actively perceive through interaction: we move to explore, and the resulting tactile and kinesthetic feedback informs our understanding of the object. Other senses like olfaction/gustation or vision/hearing aren’t the focus when emphasizing the tactile, exploratory way we actively sample the environment.