Essential kinematic information, athletic experience, and affordance perception for others.
The present study investigated the role of different types of movement in affordance perception, as well as the influence of sports experience. Perception of another actor's maximum vertical jumping height and horizontal long-jumping distance was evaluated for basketball players, soccer players, and nonplayer controls after viewing point-light representations of the actors' movements. Perceptual reports were more accurate after jumping-related movements (walking and squatting) were viewed than after nonrelated movements (standing and twisting). Vertical jump reports were more accurate than horizontal jump reports. Basketball and soccer players demonstrated higher accuracy than did controls. This research establishes that point-light displays contain essential kinematic information sufficient to support accurate affordance perception, and athletes appear better attuned to kinematic information specifying affordances for others as a result of their sports experience.
Center for Cognition, Action, and Perception, Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, ML 0376, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0376, USA, weastja@mail.uc.edu.
Julie A
JA
Weast
Ashley
A
Walton
Braylen C
BC
Chandler
Kevin
K
Shockley
Michael A
MA
Riley
D000328:Adult; D059031:Anticipation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D001490:Basketball / Q000502:physiology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D012916:Soccer / Q000502:physiology; D012938:Social Perception; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult