Perceiving the affordance of interceptability for multiple others.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Perception Science
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Prior studies show individuals perceive interceptability for themselves and one other person.
• The current research investigates perception of interceptability for multiple others.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if observers can perceive the affordance of interceptability for multiple actors.
• To identify the visual information used for judging interceptability of another person's actions.

Main Methods:

• Participants (actors) attempted to intercept balls with a paddle under constrained conditions.
• Observers viewed recordings of actor-paddle kinematics with the final outcome occluded.
• Observers judged if the actor could intercept the ball using a 2-alternative forced choice (2AFC) method.

Main Results:

• Observers achieved 72% accuracy in judging interceptability for actors.
• Observer accuracy was not influenced by prior experience as an actor.
• Information for judging interceptability is present in the unfolding ball-and-paddle kinematics.

Conclusions:

• Individuals can reliably perceive the affordance of interceptability for multiple others.
• Kinematic information in the visual display is sufficient for judging another's action capabilities.
• The perception of interceptability is a robust ability, independent of personal experience in the task.