Is This Your Final Destination? Created Steppingstone Paths Differ Depending on Whether Paths Terminate or Continue

In the ecological approach to perceiving and acting, affordances are emergent, higher-order relationships between animals and their environment. Accordingly, studies have shown that affordances are perceived 'as such' rather than as combinations of lower-order constituents of that affordance. We investigated whether affordances are created in the same way. Participants used circular rubber mats to create steppingstone paths from Mat A to Mat B (in the 'Stop-at-B' condition) and from Mat A to Mat B to Mat C (in the 'Continue-to-C' condition). We derived and analyzed sets of variables related to gap distance, path trajectory, and path variability. Consistent with our hypotheses, participants configured the A-to-B portion of the path differently in each condition-in particular, with respect to variables related to gap distance and path variability. Conversely, when participants configured paths from A-to-B-to-C, we found no evidence that they configured the A-to-B portion of the path differently than the B-to-C portion of the path. Overall, the results suggest that affordances for crossing a path from A-to-B were created distinctly from those for crossing a path from A-to-B-to-C. More generally, they suggest that affordances were created as emergent higher-order relationships rather than as a combination of lower-order constituents.