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Actionspecificperception,orperceptionaction,is
apsychologicaltheorythatpeopleperceivetheirenvironmentandevents
withinitintermsoftheirabilitytoact.[1][2]Forexample,softballplayerswho
arehittingbetterseetheballasbigger.[3]Tennisplayersseetheballas

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movingslowerwhentheysuccessfullyreturntheball.[4]Furthermore,the

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perceiversintentiontoactisalsocriticalwhiletheperceiversabilityto

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performtheintendedactioninfluencesperception,theperceiversabilities

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forunintendedactionshavelittleornoeffectonperception.[5]

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Contents[hide]
1Overview

Interaction
Help

2Background

AboutWikipedia

3Criticisms

Communityportal

4Problems

Recentchanges

5Seealso

Contactpage

6References

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Overview

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Actionspecificeffectshavebeendocumentedinavarietyofcontextsand

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withavarietyofmanipulations.[6]Theoriginalworkwasdoneonperceived

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slantofhillsandperceiveddistancetotargets.Hillslooksteeperandtargets

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lookfartherawaywhenwearingaheavybackpack.[7][8]Inadditionto

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walking,manyotheractionsinfluenceperceptionsuchasthrowing,jumping,
falling,reaching,grasping,kicking,hitting,blocking,andswimming.In

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additiontoperceivedslantandperceiveddistance,otheraspectsof

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perceptionareinfluencedbyabilitysuchassize,shape,height,andspeed.

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Theseresultshavebeendocumentedinathletessuchassoftballplayers,
golfers,tennisplayers,swimmers,andpeopleskilledinparkour.

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Background

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Theactionspecificperceptionaccounthasroots
inGibsons(1979)ecologicalapproachtoperception.[9]AccordingtoGibson,
theprimaryobjectsofperceptionareaffordances,whicharethepossibilities
foraction.Affordancescapturethemutualrelationshipbetweenthe
environmentandtheperceiver.Forexample,atallwallisabarriertoan
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ActionspecificperceptionWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

elderlymidgetbutaffordsjumpingovertosomeonetrainedinparkour,or
urbanclimbing.Liketheecologicalapproach,theactionspecificperception
accountfavorsthenotionthatperceptioninvolvesprocessesthatrelatethe
environmenttotheperceiverspotentialforaction.Consequently,similar
environmentswilllookdifferent,dependingontheabilitiesofeachperceiver.
Sinceabilitieschangeovertime,anindividual'sperceptionofsimilar
environmentswillalsochangeastheirabilitieschange.

Criticisms

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Theclaimthatactivityandintentioninfluenceperceptionis
controversial.[citationneeded]Thesefindingschallengetraditionaltheoriesof
perception,nearlyallofwhichconceptualizeperceptionasaprocessthat
providesanobjectiveandbehaviorallyindependentrepresentationofthe
environment.[attributionneeded]Thefactthatthesameenvironmentlooks
differentdependingontheperceiversabilitiesandintentionsimpliesthat
perceptionisnotbehaviorallyneutral.
Alternativeexplanationsforapparentactionspecificeffectshavebeen
proposed,mostcommonlythattheperceiversabilityaffectstheperceivers
judgmentaboutwhattheysee,ratherthanaffectingperceptionitself.In
otherwords,perceiversseetheworldsimilarlybutthenreporttheir
impressionsdifferently.[10]

Problems

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Perceptioncannotbemeasureddirectly.Instead,researchersmustrelyon
reports,judgments,andbehaviors.However,manyattemptshavebeen
madetoresolvethisissue.Onetechniqueistousemanydifferentkindsof
perceptualjudgments.[11]Forexample,actionspecificeffectshavebeen
foundwhenverbalreportsandvisualmatchingtasks.[clarificationneeded]Action
specificeffectsarealsoapparentwithindirectmeasuressuchasperceived
parallelismasaproxyforperceiveddistance.Actionspecificeffectshave
alsobeenfoundwhenusingactionbasedmeasuressuchasBlindwalking.

Seealso

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Activeinferenceagenericformulationofembodiedperceptionbased
onvariational(Bayesian)freeenergyminimisation
Activevisionanareaofcomputervisionandmachinelearning
concernedwithactivesamplingofsensorydata
Affordance
EcologicalPsychology
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JamesJ.Gibson
Motorcognitionthenotionthatcognitionisembodiedinaction,andthat
themotorsystemparticipatesinwhatisusuallyconsideredasmental
processing.
Motortheoryofspeechperceptionthehypothesisthatpeopleperceive
spokenwordsbyidentifyingthevocaltractgestureswithwhichtheyare
pronouncedratherthanbyidentifyingthesoundpatternsthatspeech
generates.
Perception

References

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1. ^Witt,J.K.(2011).Action'seffectonperception.CurrentDirectionsin
PsychologicalScience.
2. ^Proffitt,D.R.(2006).Embodiedperceptionandtheeconomyof
action.PerspectivesonPsychologicalScience.
3. ^Witt,J.K.,&Proffitt,D.R.(2005).Seetheball,hittheball:Apparentball
sizeiscorrelatedwithbattingaverage.PsychologicalScience,16,937938.
4. ^Witt,J.K.,&Sugovic,M.(2010).Performanceandeaseinfluenceperceived
speed.Perception,39,13411353.
5. ^Witt,J.K.,Proffitt,D.R.,&Epstein,W.(2010).Howandwhendoesaction
scaleperception?JournalofExperimentalPsychology:HumanPerceptionand
Performance,36,11531160.
6. ^Witt,J.K.(2011).Action'seffectonperception.CurrentDirectionsin
PsychologicalScience.
7. ^Bhalla,M.,&Proffitt,D.R.(1999).VisualMotorrecalibrationin
geographicalslantperception.JournalofExperimentalPsychology:Human
Perception&Performance,25,10761096.
8. ^Proffitt,D.R.,Stefanucci,J.,Banton,T.,&Epstein,W.(2003).Theroleof
effortinperceivingdistance.PsychologicalScience,14,106112.
9. ^Gibson,J.J.(1979).Theecologicalapproachtovisualperception(Boston:
HoughtonMifflin)
10. ^LoomisJM,PhilbeckJW,(2008).Measuringspatialperceptionwithspatial
understandingandaction,inEmbodiment,EgoSpace,andActionEds.RL
Klatzky,BMacWhinney,MBehrmann(Cambridge,MA:TheMITPress)pp.1
44,here:p.33.
11. ^Witt,J.K.(2011).Action'seffectonperception.CurrentDirectionsin
PsychologicalScience.

Categories: Visualperception

Perception

Enactivecognition

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