Stable and variable affordances in object processing: Insights from a mouse-tracking study

The present study investigates how the sensorimotor and semantic systems influence object processing. Participants selected images labeled as tools or nontools using a large mouse which requires power grip or a small mouse which requires precision grip. The upright and rotated objects were presented to induce stable and variable affordances, respectively. Response times and both temporal and spatial indicators of mouse movement trajectory were recorded. The processing advantage observed when an object's motion representation congruent with the mouse response, compared to the incongruent condition, is termed as the compatibility effect. Our findings revealed that graspable nontools resembling tools could also activate affordances. Critically, the stable affordances rely on long-term memory representations of object knowledge, while variable affordances depend on online processing of immediate visual or sensory cues, emphasizing the interaction between conceptual and motor systems in object processing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).