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Two experiments are reported in which groups of three friends socialised around their own photographs. The photographs were of two types, depicting events where all three had been present, permitting reminiscing, and events where only the photographer had been present, permitting storytelling. In Experiment 1 the seating arrangement was manipulated so that the two audience members sat either behind or around the photographer. It was hypothesised that the former would lower levels of peripheral awareness within the groups, resulting in a more formal conversation and a poorer recreational experience. In Experiment 2, control over the photographs was manipulated so that either all three group members had access to a remote control (distributed control), or only the photographer did (single control). It was hypothesised that distributed control would result in less formal conversations and a better recreational experience. In both experiments, the hypotheses were supported: patterns of social interaction were significantly affected by the manipulation of awareness during storytelling, and by the manipulation of control during reminiscing. Additionally, the two manipulations were found to affect ratings of enjoyment and fun, respectively. The results are interpreted in terms of a causative model of unfolding and recounted experience. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We explore the role of tactile co-design tools to enable interdisciplinary collaboration in complex healthcare settings. We present the Tactile Tools method and discuss our comparative case study of five healthcare settings then demonstrate how affordances of tactile co-design tools can support equality in decision-making, improve literacy within teams and challenge established power structures. We show how re-usability and the affordance of "sliding" help to manage complexity and circumnavigate traditional hierarchies. Design diagrams are investigated as a way to capture the exploration space and support better problem understanding in interdisciplinary teams. We argue that the Tactile Tools method enables participants to collaboratively explore complex interdisciplinary (healthcare) challenges and helps teams to empathize with the lived experience of health seekers. • Tactile co-design tools enable complex problem exploration. • Tactile co-design tools improve experience of interdisciplinary teams. • Tactile co-design tools support interdisciplinary collaboration. • Design traces including diagrams help capture interdisciplinary team dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to John McDowell, representational perceptual content is conceptual through and through. This paper criticizes this view by claiming that there is a certain kind of representational and non-conceptual perceptual content that is sensitive to bodily skills. After a brief introduction to McDowell's position, Merleau-Ponty's notion of body schema and Gibson's notion of affordance are presented. It is argued that affordances are constitutive of representational perceptual content, and that at least some affordances, the so-called 'conditional affordances', are essentially related to the body schema. This means that the perceptual content depends upon the nature of the body schema. Since the body schema does not pertain to the domain that our conceptual faculties operate upon, it is argued that this kind of perceptual content cannot be conceptual. At least some of that content is representational, yet it cannot feature as non-demonstrative conceptual content. It is argued that if it features as demonstrative conceptual content, it has to be captured by private concepts. Since McDowell's theory does not allow for the existence of a private language, it is concluded that at least some representational perceptual content is non-conceptual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent policy initiatives in England have focused on promoting ‘interactive’ teaching in schools, with a clear expectation that this will lead to improvements in learning. This expectation is based on the perceived success of such approaches in other parts of the world. At the same time, there has been a large investment in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resources, and particularly in interactive whiteboard technology. This paper explores the idea of interactive teaching in relation to the interactive technology which might be used to support it. It explains the development of a framework for the detailed analysis of teaching and learning in activity settings which is designed to represent the features and relationships involved in interactivity. When applied to a case study of interactive teaching during a lesson involving a variety of technology-based activities, the framework reveals a confusion of purpose in students' use of an ICT resource that limits the potential for learning when students are working independently. Discussion of relationships between technical and pedagogical interactivity points a way forward concerning greater focus on learning goals during activity in order to enable learners to be more autonomous in exploiting ICT's affordances, and the conclusion identifies the variables and issues which need to be considered in future research which will illuminate this path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the ecological theory of visual perception (Gibson, 1979), the perceiver-actor perceives affordances (i.e. opportunities of action) through multiple interactions with the environment. This perception is direct and consists in picking up information that specifies the relationship between the environment's characteristics and the perceiver-actor's properties. The aim of the work reported here was to study the role of eye height in the perceptual judgments of passability under a barrier. Eight participants were asked to verbally judge the minimal height of a barrier under which they could pass without lowering their head. Their perceived eye height was also measured. The judgments were made in three viewing conditions: (i) wearing neutral glasses (the baseline condition), (ii)immediately after putting on glasses with prismatic deviation (a 20PD downward deviation) and (iii) after adaptation to the prismatic deviation. The results showed that the two judgments (minimal barrier height and perceived eye height) were affected in the same way by the prisms. Most significantly, an after-effect occurred and had a similar impact on the two judgments. These results suggest that the effective eye height is not fixed but can be adapted and calibrated relative to the visual array. Accordingly, effective eye height can help estimate action potentialities for the organism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issues raised by the design and development of technologies to enhance learning has led to a demand for an appropriate language and form of conceptualization. However, we are insufficiently familiar with the way in which different types of mediated tool use occur, to develop the theoretical models needed for the development of this language and form of conceptualization. In its absence a somewhat eclectic variety of concepts and research, such as the concept of affordance, are recruited in accounts of learning with new technologies. In looking briefly at the relevant area in philosophy this paper will consider whether or not the use of concepts such as affordance give adequate weight to social practice, meaning and knowledge in the design of educational technology. A fruitful source for work in this field which has not been sufficiently exploited is philosophy, particularly recent work in epistemology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of affordances was introduced by J. J. Gibson to explain how inherent "values" and "meanings" of things in the environment can be directly perceived and how this information can be linked to the action possibilities offered to the organism by the environment. Although introduced in psychology, the concept influenced studies in other fields ranging from human-computer interaction to autonomous robotics. In this article, we first introduce the concept of affordances as conceived by J. J. Gibson and review the use of the term in different fields, with particular emphasis on its use in autonomous robotics. Then, we summarize four of the major formalization proposals for the affordance term. We point out that there are three, not one, perspectives from which to view affordances and that much of the confusion regarding discussions on the concept has arisen from this. We propose a new formalism for affordances and discuss its implications for autonomous robot control. We report prelim- nary results obtained with robots and link them with these implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dorsal stream visual processing is generally considered to underlie visually driven action, but when subjects grasp an object from memory, as visual information is not available, ventral stream characteristics emerge. In this study we use paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate the importance of the current visual input during visuomotor grasp. Previously, the amplitude of the paired-pulse motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in hand muscles before movement onset have been shown to predict the subsequent pattern of muscle activity during grasp. Specific facilitation of paired-pulse MEPs may reflect premotor-motor (PMC-M1) cortex connectivity. Here we investigate the paired-pulse MEPs evoked under memory-cued and visually driven conditions before grasping one of two possible target objects (a handle or a disc). All trials began with a delay period of 1200 ms. Then, a TMS pulse served as the cue to reach, grasp and hold the target object for 0.5 s. Total trial length was 5 s. Both objects were continually visible in both conditions, but the way in which the target object was designated differed between conditions. In the memory-cued condition, the target object was illuminated for the first 200 ms of the trial only. In the visually driven condition, the target object was illuminated throughout the 5 s trial. Thus, the conditions differed in whether or not the object to be grasped was designated at the time of movement initiation. We found that the pattern of paired-pulse MEP facilitation matched the pattern of object-specific muscle activity only for the visually driven condition. The results suggest that PMC-M1 connectivity contributes to action selection only when immediate sensory information specifies which action to make. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informed by Carey's cultural approach to communication, this article revisits the debate about the historical impact of new communication technologies. Several studies have pointed to technology "affordances" as offering a useful middle ground between determinist and social constructivist perspectives. This article explores how the concept of affordance might be tweaked to emphasize what an emerging technology suggests in time to the cultures using and developing it. The second half of the article illustrates the discussion with a close examination of the affordances of blogging technology and especially of a novel communications genre: news-related blogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiential learning is the process of creating knowledge through the transformation of experience and has been adopted in an increasing number of areas. This paper investigates the possibility of technological support for experiential learning. A learning activity flow (or script) and a mobile technology system were designed to facilitate students in experiential learning. An experiment was conducted on two fifth-grade classes at an elementary school, one class using personal digital assistants (PDAs) and the other working without them. The results indicate that mobile technologies are effective in improving knowledge creation during experiential learning. The interplay between the mobile technology affordances and the proposed learning flow for experiential learning is thoroughly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motor actions can be simulated and generated through the perception of objects and their characteristics. Such functional characteristics of objects with given action capabilities are called affordances. Here we report an interaction between the perception of affordances and the processing of numerical magnitude, and we show that the numerical information calibrates the judgement of action even when no actual action is required. In Experiment 1, participants had to judge whether they would be able to grasp a rod lengthways between their thumb and index finger. The presentation of the rod was preceded by a number or a non-numerical symbol. When a small number preceded the rod, participants overestimated their grasp; conversely, when a large number preceded the rods, they underestimated their grasp. In Experiment 2, participants were requested to judge if two successive rods had the same length, a judgement that did not involve any grasping. The numerical primes had no effect on this judgement, showing that the magnitude/affordance interaction was not due to a simple perceptual effect. Finally, Experiment 3 showed that the interaction was not present with a non-numerical ordered sequence, thereby eliminating sequence order as a potentially confounding variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four experiments are described in which 1 visual object (the target) was selected from another (the distractor) according to its color (Experiments 1,2, and 4) or its relative location (Experiment 3) and then was classified according to a simple geometric property. Object classification was signaled as fast as possible by a precision or power grip response, and this grip was either compatible or incompatible with either object. When targets were selected by color, target-compatible grip responses were facilitated, but distractor-compatible grip responses were impaired. When targets were selected by location, similar results were obtained for target-compatible grip responses, but not distractor-compatible grip responses. These data are explained in terms of the involvement of action codes in object-level selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to demonstrate that motor planning processes are affected by ignored affordances of a main body of an object. Participants were asked to select the hand of response according to the property of the local component (a stalk) of the object (a fruit) while they were holding a precision or a power grip devices. The size of a main body of an object was observed to prime hand selection processes asymmetrically. Right-hand responses were facilitated when the stalk was a part of a precision grip object (e.g. a strawberry) or displayed alone. In contrast, left-hand responses were facilitated when the stalk was a part of a power grip object (e.g. an apple). This data supported our previously presented view that the different hemispheres have differential roles in the early planning of manual actions. The object information that is relevant to precision grip planning appears to be processed predominantly in the left-hemisphere whereas the information that is relevant to power grip planning appears to be processed predominantly in the right-hemisphere. In Experiment 3, the irrelevant fruit body had a slight effect on motor planning even though the stalk was spatially separated from the fruit body. The priming effect was entirely eliminated when, in addition to the spatial separation, the stalk was semantically disassociated from the fruit body (Experiment 4), and when the objects used in Experiment 1 were replaced by two dimensional abstract objects (Experiment 2). Experiments 2, 3 and 4 suggested that affordances of an irrelevant main body of an object influences motor planning processes only when the local target component of the object is analysed as a meaningful part of a graspable object. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Networks of branches in arboreal environments create many functional challenges for animals, including traversing gaps between perches. Many snakes are arboreal and their elongate bodies are theoretically well suited for bridging gaps. However, only two studies have previously investigated gap bridging in snakes, and the effects of size are poorly understood. Thus, we videotaped and quantified maximal gap-bridging ability in a highly arboreal species of snake (Boiga irregularis), for which we were able to obtain a large range in snout-vent length (SVL=43-188 cm) and mass (10-1391 g). We expected smaller snakes to bridge relatively larger gaps than larger individuals because of their proportionately higher ratio of muscle cross-sectional area to mass. The maximal length of the gaps spanned by B. irregularis had negative allometry, indicating that smaller snakes could span a greater proportion of their length than larger snakes. The greatest relative gap distance spanned (64% SVL) was by the smallest individual. The majority of snakes (85%) simply crawled slowly to cross a gap. Most of the suspended portion of the body and the path traveled by the head were below the perch that supported the posterior body, which may decrease the tendency of the snake to roll. Some (15%) of the snakes used another behavior in which the neck inclined as much as 450 and then rapidly lunged towards the anterior perch, and this enabled them to cross larger gaps than those using the crawling behavior. Perhaps the launching behavior of the gliding tree snakes (Chrysopelea sp.) evolved from an ancestral behavior of lunging to bridge gaps analogous to that of the brown tree snakes. An estimate of the muscle strain required to prevent the body of the snake from buckling suggests that, despite being light-bodied, brown tree snakes bridging a gap may be at the limit of the physiological capacity of their epaxial muscles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to clarify the concept and elucidate the role of affordances in the interaction design for physical products by making a parallel comparison to product semantics. This study argues that the core of affordance concept in design lies not in expressing the design intent, but constructing the actions required in the user–product interaction. A framework consisting of three design dimensions: affordance, perceptual information, and symbol, is suggested to deal with different aspects in physical interaction design, in particular, the motor, perceptual, and cognitive factors with an illustrative example. In conclusion, implications for interaction design and future research are suggested. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Both animal and human studies suggest that the efficiency with which we are able to grasp objects is attributable to a repertoire of motor signals derived directly from vision. This is in general agreement with the long-held belief that the automatic generation of motor signals by the perception of objects is based on the actions they afford. In this study, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to determine the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of brain regions activated during passive viewing of object and non-object targets that varied in the extent to which they afforded a grasping action. Synthetic Aperture Magnetometry (SAM) was used to localize task-related oscillatory power changes within specific frequency bands, and the time course of activity within given regions-of-interest was determined by calculating time–frequency plots using a Morlet wavelet transform. Both single subject and group-averaged data on the spatial distribution of brain activity are presented. We show that: (i) significant reductions in 10–25 Hz activity within extrastriate cortex, occipito-temporal cortex, sensori-motor cortex and cerebellum were evident with passive viewing of both objects and non-objects; and (ii) reductions in oscillatory activity within the posterior part of the superior parietal cortex (area Ba7) were only evident with the perception of objects. Assuming that focal reductions in low-frequency oscillations (<30 Hz) reflect areas of heightened neural activity, we conclude that: (i) activity within a network of brain areas, including the sensori-motor cortex, is not critically dependent on stimulus type and may reflect general changes in visual attention; and (ii) the posterior part of the superior parietal cortex, area Ba7, is activated preferentially by objects and may play a role in computations related to grasping. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Studies on lexicon acquisition systems are gaining attention in the search for a natural human–robot interface and a test environment to model the infant lexicon acquisition process. Although various lexicon acquisition systems that ground words to sensory experience have been developed, existing systems have clear limitations on the ability to autonomously associate words to objects. This limitation is due to the fact that categories for words are formed in a passive manner, either by teaching of caregivers or finding similarities in visual features. This paper presents a system for lexicon acquisition through behavior learning. Based on a modified multi-module reinforcement learning system, the robot is able to automatically associate words to objects with various visual features based on similarities in affordances or in functions. The system was implemented on a mobile robot acquiring a lexicon related to different rolling preferences. The experimental results are given and future issues are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that the task irrelevant size of familiar objects facilitates compatible precision and power grip responses. The present study examined whether the task irrelevant size of novel objects produces the same compatibility effect. However, the main objective of the study was to investigate whether visually primed precision and power grips are manually asymmetric. Experiment 1 showed that the size of a novel prime object does facilitate compatible precision and power grips, even when both the object itself and the grasp type are irrelevant to the current task. However, this effect was only found when the precision grip was made with the right hand (RH) and the power grip was made with the left hand (LH). When these grips were made with the opposite hands, the effect was absent. Experiment 2 replicated the LH bias for large objects and the RH bias for small objects when power and precision grip responses were replaced with simple LH and RH button-press responses. It appears that the two hemispheres are specialised with regard to precision and power compatible objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The monkey parietal anterior intraparietal area (AIP) is part of the grasp planning and execution circuit which contains neurons that encode object features relevant for grasping, such as the width and the height. In this study we focus on the formation of AIP neurons during grasp development. We propose and implement a neural network structure and a learning mechanism that is driven by successful grasp experiences during early grasp development. The simulations show that learning leads to emergence of units that have similar response properties as the AIP visual-dominant neurons. The results may have certain implications for the function of AIP neurons and thus should stimulate new experiments that cannot only verify/falsify the model but also advance our understanding of the visuomotor learning mechanisms employed by the primate brain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Stimulus-Response Compatibility Effects have been reported for several components of the reach-to-grasp action during visual object recognition [Tucker, M., & Ellis, R. (1998). On the relations between seen objects and components of potential actions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24, 830–846; Ellis, R., & Tucker, M. (2000). Micro-affordance: The potentiation of actions by seen objects. British Journal of Psychology, 91, 451–471; Tucker, M., & Ellis, R. (2001). The potentiation of grasp types during visual object categorization. Visual Cognition, 8, 769–800; Creem, S. H., & Proffitt, D. R. (2001). Grasping objects by their handles: A necessary interaction between cognition and action. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27, 218–228; Craighero, L. Bello, A. Fadiga, L., & Rizzolatti, G. (2002). Hand action preparation influences the responses to hand pictures. Neuropsychologia, 40, 492–502]. The present study investigates compatibility effects for two elements of reach-to-grasp action during the visual mental imagery of objects—the compatibility of an object for grasping with a power and precision grasp, and the orientation of an object (left/right) for grasping by a particular hand (left/right). Experiment 1 provides further evidence for compatibility effects of a ‘seen’ object for grasping with a power and precision grasp. The experiment shows that compatibility effects are obtainable when an object is presented in an array of four objects and not just on its own. Experiment 2 provides evidence that compatibility effects of an object for grasping with a power and precision grasp can also be observed when participants make an action response to an object 700ms after it has been removed from view. Experiment 3 investigates compatibility effects for the orientation of an object for grasping by a particular hand during visual mental imagery, but finds no evidence for such effects. The findings are discussed in relation to two arguments put forward to reconcile ecological and representational theories of visual object recognition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Although the changes in kinematics of infant reaching have been studied, few researchers have investigated the improvement of reaching regarding objects of distinct physical properties. The aim of this longitudinal study was to verify the impact of object size and rigidity on the development of reaching in 4–6-month-old infants. Four infants were observed with a motion capture system during trials with four objects of distinct sizes and rigidity. A total of 188 reaches were analyzed by using the 3D movement reconstruction. Our results showed that reaching frequency, mean velocity, and straightness index increased with age. The number of movement units decreased with age and increased for small objects. Rigidity was not shown to affect reaching trajectories. These findings suggest that infants are capable of perceiving the more relevant object properties, thus using their available motor capabilities to modify the essential variables so that they can reach the target more accurately. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The concept of affordance is relatively easy to define, but has proved to be remarkably difficult to engineer. This paradox has sparked numerous debates as to its true nature. The discussion presented here begins with a review of the use of the term from which emerges evidence for a two-fold classification—simple affordance and complex affordance. Simple affordance corresponds to Gibson''s original formulation, while complex affordances embody such things as history and practice. In trying to account for complex affordance, two contrasting, but complementary philosophical treatments are considered. The first of these is Ilyenkov''s account of significances which he claims are ‘ideal’ phenomena. Ideal phenomena occupy are objective characteristics of things and are the product of human purposive activity. This makes them objective, but not independent (of any particular mind or perception) hence their similarity to affordances. The second perspective is Heidegger''s phenomenological treatment of ‘familiarity’ and ‘equipment’. As will be seen, Heidegger has argued that familiarity underpins our ability to cope in the world. A world, in turn, which itself comprises the totality of equipment. We cope by making use of equipment. Despite the different philosophical traditions both Ilyenkov and Heidegger have independently concluded that a thing is identified by its use and that use, in turn, is revealed by way of its affordances/significances. Finally, both authors—Heidegger directly and Ilyenkov indirectly—equate context and use, leading to the conclusion that affordance and context are one and the same. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present study sought to uncover what constraints shape the early development of the perceptual–motor skill of catching, and how intrinsic (i.e., movement possibilities) and extrinsic constraints (i.e., object speed imposes temporal precision) impinge on the perception of whether or not a moving object affords catching. Thirty-five infants (with different preferred catching tendencies) between 3 and 9 months of age were presented with balls approaching from the side with different speeds. Video recordings were used to determine how each infant reached for the ball (with the right hand, the left hand or with both hands) and whether these catching attempts were successful (resulting in ball–hand contact). The lower the proportion of failing catching attempts the more accurate the infant perceived the ball''s catchability. This accuracy is also reflected in the discrepancy between boundary and success speed (i.e., the difference between the ball speed that still was perceived as catchable and the highest ball speed that was actually successfully managed). The findings indicate that the interaction between infants’ intrinsic constraints (which gave rise to, e.g., the preference for two-handed catching and inclination to reach) and the extrinsic constraints (imposed by object speed) induces age-related differences in catching performance and age-related differences in the perception of what action a moving object affords. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We are entering the age of Ubiquitous Computing, and its most distinguished advantage is invisibility of computing. The essence of invisible computing is the invisibility of Human-computer Interaction, as people can focus their attention on the content instead of the tools they are using. This paper studies how to make computers invisible, and proposes a framework of online invisible computing and offline invisible computing. Online invisible computing is Intelligent Human Computer Interaction, where the computers function as intelligent agents; whereas offline invisible computing as in Natural Human Computer Interaction, people are able to use the computers without much conscious effort. This paper focuses the study on offline invisible computing which needs only minimal users' attention when the users are using computers. The paper attempts to realize invisible computing with Affordances, especially designing Action Affordances in computers. In the Ubiquitous Computing age, the computers would not only be invisible but also be embedded in the environment where people are living, so Human-Computer Interaction could not be separated from the environment any more; User & Environment Centred Design (UECD), a new designing method for ubiquitous computing is also proposed in this paper. A Pen Based User Interface system is developed as the first step to invisible computing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has, of recent, been a marked interest in the utilization of learning objects, specifically on the potential of granularity and reusability to make instructional development more efficient, and learning experiences more customized and meaningful . Juxtaposition of affordance systems and intelligent systems reveals powerful possibilities for granularity and reusability. Biology, architecture and language are investigated as systems to explore the role of granularity and reusability, in the quest to better define current perceptions of learning objects in the realm of design and technology in instruction. The notion of subsystems, and the rules that apply within each system (intra-systemic rules) and between subsystems (inter-systemic rules) as it extends to holistic purposes, defines the role of granularity. The inverse relationship between granular reusability and learning-objective specificity is addressed. In conclusion, learning objects within the virtual context are evaluated to identify commonalities and patterns to inform the design and development of future learning objects, and to clarify granularity and how it impacts the scale and scope of reusability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments with a part-generation task show that rated salience and production order of parts in artifacts are first predicted by their relevance for canonical actions, but also that they vary, depending on the current situation.In three further experiments participants read sentences describing actions (e.g., ‘The woman shares the orange’) followed by objects’ parts from which it was easy or not to extract affordances (e.g., ‘slice’ vs. ‘pulp’). They had to perform a part verification task or to evaluate whether or not the combination made sense. Parts from which it was easy to derive affordances were processed earlier and the combination was evaluated as the one which made more sense.Overall, results support the view that sensory-motor simulations underlie conceptualization and that concepts are action-based. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ideomotor apraxia (IM) is a disorder of skilled action characterized by spatiotemporal errors in pantomiming object use and in using objects. Recent evidence suggests that at least some patients with IM may exhibit particular deficits in forming hand configurations appropriate for object use. Sirigu et al. [Cortex 31 (1995) 41] reported an apraxic who positioned her hand inappropriately when attempting to use objects in accordance with stored knowledge of object-specific manipulation, but in reaching tasks could grasp the same objects appropriately in response to their structure. To this point, however, apraxics’ ability to respond to functional and structural attributes of objects has not been empirically assessed. We investigated the hypothesis that patients with IM (n=9) due to left inferior parietal damage would be impaired in producing and recognizing hand postures associated with familiar objects, indicating deficient memorial representations for object-specific hand postures. In contrast, we predicted relatively unimpaired ability to produce and recognize appropriate hand postures with novel objects, indicating integrity of “on line” spatiomotor procedures coding hand position in response to object structure. Apraxics’ performance was contrasted with 10 healthy controls and 8 brain-lesioned non-apraxics. Consistent with our predictions, the apraxics responded abnormally with familiar objects but normally in recognizing hand postures appropriate for novel objects. In addition, performance with objects calling for a prehensile response (pinch or clench) was superior to that with objects evoking a non-prehensile response (palm or poke). These data suggest degradation of inferior parietally-mediated representations of the precise hand postures associated with familiar objects. Furthermore, they are consistent with possible over-reliance upon dorsal system procedures for calculating precision and power grip in response to object structure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The present study compared how children and adults perceived affordances for upright stance when information was available either visually or haptically. 12 adults (mean age=26.5 years) and 13 children (mean age=4.5 years) examined an adjustable wooden platform that was randomly set at five different degrees of inclination (17, 22, 27, 33, 39). In the haptic condition, a masking curtain excluded vision of the platform and the surface was explored with a hand-held, wooden dowel. Results showed that for both children and adults there was closer agreement between perceptual judgments and action capabilities in the visual condition. Children overestimated their ability to stand on the steeper slopes, took equal amounts of time to make their judgments across all slopes, and were equally confident in their judgments across all slopes. In contrast, adults were more accurate than children at judging the affordances for upright stance, took longer to respond close to the actual action boundary, and were less confident close to the action boundary. Furthermore, adults took longer to respond and were less confident in the haptic condition whereas children had similar response times and were equally confident in both conditions. These important differences between adults and children in the perception of a basic affordance are discussed with reference to the coupling between perception and action at different phases of the lifespan and to the factors that might influence the organization of this coupling. Finally, implications are drawn for the prevention of accidents and the promotion of basic motor competence in children. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Data use in education requires consideration of how data represent various aspects of schooling. • We distinguish between narrative and numeric data as two representational modes. • Narrative and numeric data have different affordances. Data use in education is a sensemaking process in which practitioners and researchers interact with different systems of meaning such as anecdotes or spreadsheets. The representational qualities of data and their influence on practice are critical but less well-discussed aspects of data use. Drawing on social semiotics, this theoretical article proposes that data should be discussed in terms of narrative and numerical modes of representation. Narrative data typically consist of protagonists and actions organized in a temporal structure, while numerical data typically consist of mathematical notations and visual representations such as graphs and figures. We argue that the representational properties of these two modes affect how data are interpreted and acted upon. We then present two contrasting cases from New Zealand and Norway of how affordances affect teachers' data use processes. Finally, we discuss five challenges arising from our theorization about the affordances of data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary understandings of vulnerability highlight its critical, relational and enabling aspects. Through leveraging these understandings, this article contributes to conceptualizing the notion of everyday design by interweaving it with that of vulnerability. A case study brings vulnerability into view by zooming out from and in on everyday practices around an aquarium in a paediatric oncology ward. Subsequently, we unravel the notion of vulnerability as used in design research and in anthropology and philosophy: while vulnerability grounds everyday design philosophically and ethically as a form of care, everyday design challenges the tendency to situate vulnerability in (relations between) human beings. Our article thus exemplifies design anthropology understood as bringing in dialogue theory and methods from both anthropology and design. • We leverage understandings of vulnerability from anthropology and philosophy. • We show how these align with research about the indeterminacy of design. • We propose to ground everyday design philosophically and ethically as a form of care. • We show how design research challenges tendencies to situate vulnerability in humans. • We exemplify design anthropology as bringing anthropology and design into dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents preliminary considerations and results from a research project designed to investigate the relation between (i) gestures, (ii) graphic traces and (iii) perceptions. More specifically, the project aims to test the hypothesis that graphic traces, including handwriting, can set up graphetic empathy between writers and readers of traces across long temporal and spatial distances. Insofar as a graphic trace is lawfully related to the gesture by which it came into being, the trace itself will hold information about the gesture, which may resonate with the sensorimotor system of a perceiver, as if they themselves performed the gesture. If this is in fact so, it will have important and hitherto unanticipated implications for our understanding of the embodiment of reading. As part of the article we will present and discuss the results of a neurophenomenological trial study through which we attempt to operationalize the gesture-trace and trace–perception relations respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smartphone equipment has promoted the widespread use of new media communication, and users have changed from being passive to actively receiving information. This has changed people's lifestyles, and has enriched the convenience and entertainment value of knowledge acquisition. However, the new media communication systems can be too complex, and the interface design for users to interact with the new media may not be sufficiently intuitive, which causes interface usability problems. Therefore, this research study focuses on the concept of affordance and the impact of user perception pertinent to smartphone applications on frequency modulation (FM) new media interface design. The experiment is a between-subjects design using one-way ANOVA to examine three different operation modes, namely the Litchi, Himalayas and Archimedes types. The experimental data were obtained through task performance and subjective evaluation. The results indicate that: (1) Visual information presentation methods, such as viewing and deleting, affect user perception. The three operating modes revealed significant differences, with the Himalayas type taking the least amount of task performance time. (2) There were significant differences among the different operation modes, with the Himalayas type the best in terms of the users' subjective evaluation. (3) The overall analysis of task performance and satisfaction consistently showed that the Himalayas type was better than the Litchi and Archimedes types in all aspects. (4) Smartphone user interface applications provide users with cognitive support, objects, functions, and sensory affordance, which enhance the user's interactive experience of FM new media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I offer a discussion concerning the conceptual connection between the notion of vision-for-action and the one of affordance perception. I first analyze the notion of vision-for-action. I then analyze a notion usually coupled with it: the notion of affordance perception , the main insights behind which are guiding several current neuroscientific enterprises and the related philosophical speculations. Then, I argue that we should not couple these two notions with a light heart: though these two processes can be, from a theoretical point of view, related, we should be careful in inferring the actual and effective occurrence of the latter in the presence of the former. This will be done by carrying out a conceptual analysis of the experimental evidence coming from the ' Two Visual Systems Model ', which is the main reference in the literature on affordance perception and vision-for-action. My point has strong philosophical implications for our view concerning the best interpretation of how vision-for-action really works, and the specific relation it actually entertains with affordance perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaboration has long been of considerable interest to both designers and researchers in the CHI and CSCW communities. This paper contributes to this discussion by proposing the concept of network communities as a new genre of collaboration for this discussion. Network communities are robust and persistent communities based on a sense of locality that spans both the virtual and physical worlds of their users. They are a technosocial construct that requires understanding of both the technology and the sociality embodying them. We consider several familiar systems as well as historical antecedents to describe the affordances these systems offer their community of users. Based on our own experience as designers, users and researchers of a variety of network communities, we extend this initial design space along three dimensions: the boundary negotiations between real and virtual worlds, support for social rhythms and the emergence and development of community. Finally we offer implications for designers, researchers and community members based on our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skill acquisition approaches can be broadly grouped into two camps: those which promote the attainment of an "optimalˮ technique and those which promote self-organization. To date, there have been relatively few training studies that have compared the motor learning effects for these different approaches. The present study compared two training methods designed to encourage self-organization (differential learning, DL, and the constraint-led approach, CLA) with prescriptive instructions (PI) designed to promote the acquisition of an optimal technique. Batters were trained for 6 weeks in a task that involved learning to hit a baseball to the opposite-field (OF) in a virtual environment. In pre and post-tests, batters received points for OF hits and were penalized for hitting the ball to other parts of the field. Relative to a no-training control group, PI training led to a significant change in action selection (fewer swings at pitches on the inside of the plate), but no change in the number of total points. The DL trained group showed the opposite pattern: significantly more points but no change in the number of swings at inside pitches. The CLA trained group significantly improved in both areas and showed greater functional variability in the control of contact point than the other groups. The CLA was more effective than the other methods because it promoted the development of both the coordination of the movement and the perception of the affordance for OF hitting. • Two self-organization training methods were compared with prescriptive instruction (PI) for opposite-field (OF) hitting in baseball. • PI led to a significant change in hitting strategy (fewer swings at pitches on the inside of the plate), but no change in the number of OF hits. • Differential learning (DL) training led to more OF hits but no change in the number of swings at inside pitches. • The constraint-led approach (CLA) trained group significantly improved in both areas and had the greatest overall performance gains. • The CLA is more effective because it promotes the development of both movement coordination and the perception of task-relevant affordances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty million Americans currently have diabetes, and a substantial portion do not reach the goals of clinical treatment. This is in part due to the complex barriers to effective self-care faced by people with diabetes. This study uses a patient work perspective, focusing on the everyday, lived experience of managing diabetes. Our primary research goal was to explore how the work of self-care is embedded in the other routines of everyday living. We found that everyday objects and spaces were instrumental in the incorporation of diabetes work into daily routines. Objects anchored diabetes tasks by linking illness-specific artifacts to space and time (e.g. a morning routine), and by enabling the performance on diabetes tasks while on the move in either planned or unplanned ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since early cybernetics studies by Wiener, Pask, and Ashby, the properties of living systems are subject to deep investigations. The goals of this endeavour are both understanding and building: abstract models and general principles are sought for describing organisms, their dynamics and their ability to produce adaptive behavior. This research has achieved prominent results in fields such as artificial intelligence and artificial life. For example, today we have robots capable of exploring hostile environments with high level of self-sufficiency, planning capabilities and able to learn. Nevertheless, the discrepancy between the emergence and evolution of life and artificial systems is still huge. In this paper, we identify the fundamental elements that characterize the evolution of the biosphere and open-ended evolution, and we illustrate their implications for the evolution of artificial systems. Subsequently, we discuss the most relevant issues and questions that this viewpoint poses both for biological and artificial systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Skeuomorphism and flat design are not different to afford a user's actions at the perceptuomotor level. • The design styles are muddled with dimensionality and visual metaphor. • Visuo-perceptual familiarity is more critical to afford a user's actions than dimensionality. • A design physically compatible with user manipulation is more important for affording a user's actions than a real-world metaphor. • Using a conventional metaphor as a signifier can increase a user's ability to perceive how they can interact with interfaces. Skeuomorphism and flat design, which are the most prevalent design styles, have both striven for supremacy in interface design. A consensus has not been reached due to inconsistent findings in academia and groundless arguments on the internet. In this article, we aim to explore perceptuomotor differences between these two design styles via object-based correspondence effects. Experiments with object-based correspondence effects allow the affordance to be measured quantitatively, comparing both perceptual and operational aspects of each design style. In Experiment 1, the two design styles are compared in terms of the correspondence effect between handle-orientation (left/right) and a user's responding hand (right hand/left hand). In Experiment 2, the two design styles are compared in terms of the correspondence effect between object size (big/small) and grip type (power grip/precision grip). The results in both experiments indicate that the two design styles are not different at the perceptuomotor level. This demonstrates that an affordance is similarly evoked in digital objects designed with either skeuomorphism or flat design. Further, we discuss the reason for the inconsistent findings in previous research, concluding that results have been influenced by unfamiliar forms and inappropriate real-world metaphors. Based on the conclusions, we suggest three design principles that designers can use to avoid confusion related to the design styles. In our discussion, we determine that the design styles are muddled with dimensionality and metaphor, which increases the inconsistent research findings in the literature. Finally, we suggest that the dichotomy between skeuomorphism and flat design is discarded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Rodents were forced to ascend or descend when travelling a 3-dimensional apparatus. • Behaviour differed between those started from top and those started from the bottom. • Flat-land dweller rodents differed in behaviour from complex habitat dwellers. • Behaviour typical to 2-dimensions was preserved in the 3-dimensional apparatus. • Horizontal head posture may account for preserving a typical open-field behavior. Many animals are surface-bounded, traveling mostly in two-dimensional (2D) environments. However, those that inhabit structured habitats might also require wayfinding in three-dimensional (3D) environments. Here we forced rodents to ascend or descend when traveling. We tested three species: laboratory rats (a common experimental subject); fat sand rats, which forage while climbing shrubs (representing those used to 3D travel); and Tristram's jirds, which forage in plains (not used to climbing). We examined differences between individuals initially placed on top of the apparatus compared with those placed on its bottom, assuming that this, in addition to the above difference in habitats and motor habits, would influence their spatial behavior. Exploratory activity of top-starting rats and sand rats, but not jirds, differed from bottom starters. Nevertheless, despite the need to continuously ascend or descend, both top- and bottom-starters of the three species displayed the spatio-temporal structure of open-field exploration as previously revealed in a horizontal arena. Specifically, exploration constituted a set of round-trips to a home-base. It is suggested that the preservation of a regular structure of spatial behavior was due to the ability of the tested rodents to mostly maintain a horizontal posture of their head when ascending and descending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shape grammars are a framework to view design as non-deterministic, creative, visual computation, and making as the deterministic execution of a design in the material world. Making grammars conceive of making as creative, multi-sensory, material computation. However, examples in the literature on making grammar are insufficiently complex to demonstrate the creativity of non-visual senses in making. This paper develops a making grammar for thin-tile vault construction as a sensory ethnography to 'show making' to designers as being a creative practice involving visual and non-visual senses. To do so, the role of drawing in shape grammar and making grammar is differentiated, and environmental psychology is used to develop a framework for the use of drawing to depict multi-sensory processes in making grammar. • Gibson's theory of depiction is applied to making grammars. • A making grammar is developed for a multi-tool & multi-material construction. • The generative role of environmental factors in making is demonstrated. • Making is shown to be a creative act independent of designing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When deciding what to disclose online, social network site users weigh benefits against risks—for example, expectations of social support versus privacy concerns. Users are also influenced by a social network site's affordances. In this study, we applied the privacy calculus model to investigate whether and how affordances affect self-disclosure. Specifically, we examined N = 128 users' reactions to the affordance of association , which was embedded in two features in a 2 × 2 experimental design. Our mock-up social network site either did or did not contain cues about (a) the number of other users disclosing and (b) their similarity to the individual participant. Results showed that individual self-disclosure was slightly and significantly related to users' expectations of support and privacy concerns. Other users' disclosure and their similarity increased self-disclosure. The effect of similarity was partially mediated by expectations of support and privacy concerns. Code and data can be found at https://osf.io/8bsem. • On social network sites, features showing large quantities of other users disclosing increased self-disclosure. • Features showing the similarity of other users disclosing also increased self-disclosure. • The similarity feature potentially increased self-disclosure due to reduced privacy concerns. • Participants who experienced greater privacy concerns and expected less social support disclosed less. • Most of the effects were small or medium-sized; the statistical power to detect small effects was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown an effect of handle-response correspondence on key-press responses when participants judged the upright or inverted orientation of photographed one-handled graspable objects. In three experiments, we explored whether this effect still holds for symmetric graspable objects that are usually grasped by two hands (i.e. two-handled objects; e.g. shears). In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were required to perform a between-hand response in order to categorize cooking or amusement objects appearing as grasped from either an allocentric (Experiment 1) or an egocentric perspective (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, they were required to perform a within-hand response to categorize the same stimuli appearing as grasped from an egocentric perspective. Across all three experiments, results showed that categorization was more difficult when the objects were displayed as grasped on the opposite side than the response rather than on the same side. We discuss the implications of these results for theories of action potentiation and spatial coding and suggest that different mechanisms may be recruited depending on the required action (i.e. response mode). • Symmetric objects (e.g., shears) grasped on one side elicit correspondence effects. • Correspondence effects with symmetric objects are modulated by the grasping hand viewpoint. • Available objects can trigger actions involving them more easily than non-available objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a five-year long research project "eMotion—mapping museum experience" we assessed which effects artworks had on museum visitors and their behavior in the field. We tested several hypotheses such as: Does a famous work attract more attention than a less renowned one, and a "loud" artwork more than a subtle one? Do similar artworks generate similar visitor reactions? Does an artwork lose its attraction if manipulated? To investigate these questions, experiments were conducted using special technology that allowed tracking of visitors' physical locomotion and continuous measurement of physiological markers in the gallery. We also recorded visitors' general subjective assessments of their museum experience, and with respect to specific artworks. Using this innovative approach, we were able to demonstrate strong correlations between artworks, the physical reactions of the visitors, their spatial behavior, and aesthetic ratings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the turn of the 21st century we see a renewed interest in the impact of hospital environments on children's well-being. In this article, we study the spatiality of children affected by cancer, i.e., their encounters with the day-care ward they are situated in. First we elaborate on these encounters through Schatzki's practice theory and Gibson's theory of affordances. Then we clarify our thinking in a case study and turn as empirical focus to a 'thing', an intravenous-pump and stand (IV-stand). The data used are field notes and videos shot by two children in a day-care ward, tinged with examples from literature and coincidental encounters with the IV-stand. Through carefully untangling everyday practices around the IV-stand, we show their complexity and offer a more nuanced understanding of child-friendly environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research shows that simultaneously executed grasp and vocalization responses are faster when the precision grip is performed with the vowel [i] and the power grip is performed with the vowel [ɑ]. Research also shows that observing an object that is graspable with a precision or power grip can activate the grip congruent with the object. Given the connection between vowel articulation and grasping, this study explores whether grasp‐related size of observed objects can influence not only grasp responses but also vowel pronunciation. The participants had to categorize small and large objects into natural and manufactured categories by pronouncing the vowel [i] or [ɑ]. As predicted, [i] was produced faster when the object's grasp‐related size was congruent with the precision grip while [ɑ] was produced faster when the size was congruent with the power grip (Experiment 1). The effect was not, however, observed when the participants were presented with large objects that are not typically grasped by the power grip (Experiment 2). This study demonstrates that vowel production is systematically influenced by grasp‐related size of a viewed object, supporting the account that sensory‐motor processes related to grasp planning and representing grasp‐related properties of viewed objects interact with articulation processes. The paper discusses these findings in the context of size–sound symbolism, suggesting that mechanisms that transform size‐grasp affordances into corresponding grasp‐ and articulation‐related motor programs might provide a neural basis for size‐sound phenomena that links small objects with closed‐front vowels and large objects with open‐back vowels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perception and motor interaction with physical surroundings can be analyzed by the changes in probability laws governing two possible outcomes of neuronal activity, namely the presence or absence of spikes (binary states). Perception and motor interaction with the physical environment are partly accounted for by a reduction in entropy within the probability distributions of binary states of neurons in distributed neural circuits, given the knowledge about the characteristics of stimuli in physical surroundings. This reduction in the total entropy of multiple pairs of circuits in networks, by an amount equal to the increase of mutual information, occurs as sensory information is processed successively from lower to higher cortical areas or between different areas at the same hierarchical level, but belonging to different networks. The increase in mutual information is partly accounted for by temporal coupling as well as synaptic connections as proposed by Bahmer and Gupta (Front. Neurosci. 2018). We propose that robust increases in mutual information, measuring the association between the characteristics of sensory inputs' and neural circuits' connectivity patterns, are partly responsible for perception and successful motor interactions with physical surroundings. The increase in mutual information, given the knowledge about environmental sensory stimuli and the type of motor response produced, is responsible for the coupling between action and perception. In addition, the processing of sensory inputs within neural circuits, with no prior knowledge of the occurrence of a sensory stimulus, increases Shannon information. Consequently, the increase in surprise serves to increase the evidence of the sensory model of physical surroundings [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Clinical observations of kinesia paradoxica and freezing in patients with Parkinson''s disease suggest that the automatic activation of motor programmes by visual stimuli may not require intact basal ganglia function, and that an increased sensitivity to such object affordances may contribute to some symptoms of the disease. Employing a paradigm that measures the degree of interference from object affordances on voluntary actions, we confirm that activation of object affordances are preserved in Parkinson''s disease, but find no evidence that there is an increased sensitivity to the effects of object affordances on voluntary action. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Introduction Expansion of affordances and acquisition of new possibilities for action depend on motor learning and development. Adolph considers affordances as continuous, probabilistic functions, representing an individual's likelihood of successful performance, across environmental increments. With this study we addressed the question of how the relation between educator and child in a difficult motor task, involving a process of expanding affordances, contributes to the acquisition of new possibilities for action [1,2,3] . Methods Sixty children 5 years old from 2 kindergartens in Treviso (Italy) were studied while performing structured and unstructured physical activity during one hour lessons at a common playground; frequency of lessons was 1/week and the total period of observation was for three months. Children of group A could rely on a teacher to get on a very difficult tool, a bar supported by two mobile springs; the teacher told them that they could jump down if they lost the balance or were scared of walking the bar. After the jump, they were encouraged to go up again at the same point of the bar. Children of group B received no help and were left alone to find out the best strategy to accomplish the task. Time and number of errors were measured and children were video recorded. Results At the beginning no children were able to climb on the bar. At the end of the 10 lessons, 20% only of the children of group B were able to climb on the bar by themselves, and none was able to walk. In group A, 80% of the children climbed on the bar by themselves, 17% requested help and three % could not climb. During free play, only children of group A used the spring bar. Conclusions The data indicate that teacher-mediated experiences promote child expansion of body scale and affordances. The data also suggest that successful experiences encourage autonomous child training thus further expanding perception of motor skill competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper addresses a fundamental dilemma in the design of intelligent language learning environments: the more freedom a system offers to learners in the use of the target language, the more unwieldy the data is which the learners produce and the less able the system is to support inferences about learners from that data. It is shown how in a platform where learners and teachers interact, the teachers' feedback which is archived in the system and indexed to the learners' target language production can constitute affordances that support a process of bootstrapping from raw language output to potential insights into the learners' interlanguage and gaps in their grasp of the target language. The approach is illustrated with three types of learner errors uncovered in the corpus of learner English through this bootstrapping heuristic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]