Perceptual-motor representations of manipulable objects.

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Until quite recently, perception and action were considered to be separate domains of interest. Advances in experimental techniques, however, have lead to a new appreciation that viewing and responding to an object must be determined at least in part by mechanisms that are fundamentally entangled. For example, neuroimaging studies have shown that the motor cortex is activated when observers classify pictures of manipulable objects. Behavioural studies likewise have established that planning an action can affect the perception of an object sharing features (for example, orientation) with the intended response. While these phenomena are of great interest, much of the detailed work on perceptual-motor interactions is based on abstract tasks (for example, preparing a left/right key press, or visually encoding the direction of an arrow) that make little contact with the processes mediating the identification of everyday objects. This proposal describes a set of novel experimental procedures involving common manipulable objects to further address a number of important questions on the dynamic interplay between perception and action, extending previous theoretical and empirical developments in new directions. First, I introduce a methodology to enable a better understanding of the action representation immediately generated by attention to the image of a familiar object like a beer mug or frying pan. This research will establish that motor affordances are not simply based on the grasp evoked by the orientation of the handle but on a more complex description of the typical function attributed to the object as a whole. Next, experiments are discussed that further elucidate the causal role of the motor system in perceptual and language tasks that require the classification of handled objects. Finally, I describe a methodology that will clarify how movement trajectories (especially the rotation of the hand) are affected by perceived affordances that conflict with or conform to an intended action.