Suppléance perceptive chez l’adolescent aveugle : stratégies individuelles, perception et catégorisation de forme

EnglishInspired by the pioneering work of Bach-y-Rita (1972) on visual-tactile substitution, the invention of the Tactos platform has made it possible to study the acquisition of the perception of two-dimensional digital forms (simple geometrical forms) by means of the haptic or tactilokinesthetic modality. We report here the results obtained with blind adolescent subjects in the course of various situations: the identification, the recognition, and the categorization of shapes. A longitudinal study of these adolescents has allowed us to observe the acquisition of reading strategies, and the possibility of deploying them in the course of specific exercises (for example, geometry). Theoretically, these studies demonstrate once again, if need be, the necessity of considering the coupling of sensations and actions as a whole, in order to account for the capacity, acquired here at a "late" stage, for perceptual learning; and above all, in the present study, the implication of such coupling in activities of abstraction. In parallel, it is interesting to note that the difficulties encountered by some of these adolescents derive more from the lack of a graphic culture than from the complexity of the system itself. This emphasizes the importance of an instrumented education with respect to graphic gestures, in order to develop a multimodal memory of the shapes encountered, in particular in a digital space. francaisS'inspirant des travaux pionniers de Bach-y-Rita (1972) sur la substitution sensorielle visuo-tactile, la conception de la plateforme Tactos a permis l'etude de l'acquisition de la perception de formes numeriques bi-dimensionnelles (formes geometriques simples) via la modalite haptique ou tactilokinesthesique. Nous rapportons ici les resultats obtenus aupres de jeunes adolescents aveugles au cours de differentes situations : identification, reconnaissance, et categorisation de formes. Un suivi longitudinal des adolescents nous a permis d'apprecier l'acquisition des strategies de lecture et la possibilite de les deployer lors d'exercices specifiques (geometrie par exemple). Theoriquement, ces etudes montrent, une nouvelle fois s'il en etait besoin, la necessite de considerer le couplage action-sensation pour rendre compte des capacites, ici «tardives», d'apprentissage perceptif mais surtout de reveler son implication dans des activites d'abstraction. Parallelement, il est interessant de noter que les difficultes rencontrees par certains adolescents relevent plus d'un manque de culture graphique que de la complexite du systeme en lui-meme. Ceci souligne l'importance d'une education instrumentee du geste graphique afin de developper une memoire multimodale des formes rencontrees dans l'espace notamment digital.