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Dissociating affordance and spatial compatibility effects using a pantomimed reaching action.

Samuel Couth1, Emma Gowen, Ellen Poliakoff

  • 1Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Carys Bannister Building, Dover Street, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK, Samuel.couth@manchester.ac.uk.

Experimental Brain Research
|December 17, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The affordance effect, not spatial compatibility alone, speeds up reactions to action-related stimuli. Spatial compatibility influences later movement, while the affordance effect primes early motor responses.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Motor Control
  • Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

  • The affordance effect suggests faster reactions to stimuli that suggest an action (e.g., a door handle).
  • This effect is sometimes attributed to spatial compatibility, where stimulus and response locations align.
  • Previous studies focused on simple reaction times, not detailed movement kinematics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To differentiate between the affordance effect and spatial compatibility.
  • To investigate these effects during naturalistic reach movements, not just button presses.
  • To analyze detailed arm and hand kinematics.

Main Methods:

  • Participants performed pantomimed reaches to either affording (door handle) or abstract stimuli.
  • Stimuli were spatially compatible or incompatible with the responding hand.
  • Movement kinematics were recorded, with stimulus onset delays of 0, 500, or 1000 ms.

Main Results:

  • Only spatially compatible affordance stimuli sped up reach onset, confirming previous findings.
  • Spatial compatibility alone did not facilitate reach onset without an affordance.
  • Incompatible abstract stimuli caused greater trajectory deviation, diminishing with delay; affording stimuli did not show this.

Conclusions:

  • The affordance effect is linked to visuomotor priming, facilitating early movement.
  • Spatial compatibility influences later movement phases by inhibiting incompatible locations.
  • These distinct mechanisms dissociate the affordance and spatial compatibility effects in action planning.