Motor affordances in visual search for multiple targets

Journal of Vision. 2021. Vol. 21. No. 9. P. 2984–2984.

Anastasia Ahufrieva, Elena Gorbunova

Motor affordances in visual search for multiple targets

Anastasia A. Anufrieva, Elena S. Gorbunova

HSE University

Objective

Affordance is a property of an object, that defines the possible action with it. The goal of current study was to reveal whether a congruence of action with object impacts accuracy and reaction time in visual search. The study investigated the subsequent search misses (SSM) effect - the decrease in accuracy of second target detection after finding the first target.

Methods

Participants' task was to search for targets, doing grasping or pinching movements. There were two groups: Grasp and Pinch. Targets were well-known objects grouped by the way of action. On each trial, it could be one, two or no targets. Experiment contained three congruence of action with the target conditions: congruent, incongruent, partially congruent (dual-target condition, one target is congruent).

Results

Accuracy and reaction time in different conditions were compared. No significant differences were found between Grasp and Pinch groups. Congruency affected the reaction time in both groups. Significant differences in accuracy between single and dual-target conditions were found for Grasp group in congruent and partially congruent blocks, for Pinch group in incongruent and partially congruent blocks.

Conclusion

Activation of motor programs affected accuracy and reaction time in dual-target visual search. Obtained results are consistent with the previous research of object identification, where movement congruence affected the naming time (e.g. Bub et al., 2013), therefore, the activation of motor programs can enhance the target identification process. Moreover, the results may be discussed it relation to SSM effect models.

Funding: The research was supported by RSCF grant № 20-78-10055

Keywords: affordance, visual search, motor program