Affordances can invite behavior: Reconsidering the relationship between affordances and agency

The concept of agency has been central to ecological approaches to psychology. Gibson, one of the founders of this movement, made room for this concept by arguing against the mechanistic conceptions in psychology. In his view, the environment is not a collection of causes that pushes the animal around, but consist of action possibilities, which he coined affordances. In making their way in the world, animals regulate their behavior with respect to these possibilities. Reed later developed this ecological conception of agency, following Gibson in conceiving of affordances as action possibilities. However, drawing upon industrial design, architecture, and phenomenology, we argue that affordances are not mere action possibilities but that they can also invite behavior. We suggest a mutualist perspective on invitations, suggesting that they depend on the animal-environment relationship in multiple dimensions. The implications of this new conception of affordances for the ecological account of agency are explored.     

Attachment and relationship satisfaction in expectant first-time parents: The mediating role of relationship enhancing behaviors

Individual differences in attachment are well established as a correlate of couple relationship satisfaction. However, less is known about the role of attachment in predicting satisfaction at specific milestone points in couple relationships. The present study explored the role of attachment in predicting relationship satisfaction during couples’ first pregnancy, and the mediating role of relationship enhancing behaviors. Male and female attachment anxiety and avoidance predicted their own low relationship satisfaction, and this was partially mediated by relationship enhancing behaviors. Male attachment anxiety and avoidance predicted low female satisfaction, and this was fully mediated by relationship enhancing behaviors. This study is the first to highlight the important role of male attachment during pregnancy, and the mediating role of relationship enhancing behaviors.     

Prospective effects of social support on internalized homonegativity and sexual identity concealment among middle-aged and older gay men: a longitudinal cohort study

Background and objectives: Middle-aged and older gay men experience higher rates of depression and anxiety compared to their heterosexual counterparts, with internalized homonegativity and sexual identity concealment known to be major stress-related contributors. This study examined the prospective effect of different types and sources of social support on internalized homonegativity and sexual identity concealment experienced among middle-aged and older gay men.

Methods: A longitudinal survey involving two waves of data collection separated by 12 months was conducted among a cohort of 186 gay-identified men aged 40 years and older.

Results: Two types of social support were found to be important. Greater baseline tangible or practical support independently predicted lower internalized homonegativity at 12-month follow-up, while greater baseline emotional or psychological support independently predicted a lower tendency toward sexual identity concealment at 12-month follow-up. Greater baseline support from community or government agencies, such as health services and support organizations, predicted higher internalized homonegativity at 12-month follow-up.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that tangible and emotional support may be beneficial in reducing internalized homonegativity and sexual identity concealment among middle-aged and older gay men. Ensuring that services provide environments that do not compound the stressful impact of stigma also appears to be important.     

Effects of Affordance Perception on the Initiation and Actualization of Action

Studies have shown information specifying some affordances may be faster or easier to perceive than others. This article investigates the effect of affordance perception on the time taken to initiate and perform an action. In particular it focuses on how action timing varies as a function of a continuum of afforded action, that is, around an action-boundary. In Experiment 1, participants made judgments regarding whether they could fit a small ball through a series of different size apertures. Judgments were quick and accurate at the extremes of the affordance scale; however, at the perceived action-boundary longer, more variable initiation times (ITs) were observed. Trials repeated over 3 consecutive days revealed a systematic change in the IT distribution and demonstrated that IT is highly sensitive to changes in location of the perceived action-boundary. In Experiment 2 effects of action-scaling were observed on IT and movement time of afforded actions: around the perceived action-boundary the afforded action took longer to be both perceived and acted upon. The results highlight that affordance perception influences not only action selection and preparation but also the action itself. The findings are discussed in terms of the informational basis of action responses.     

The role of haptic exploration of ground surface information in perception of overhead reachability

The authors performed an experiment in which participants (N = 24) made judgments about maximum jump and reachability on ground surfaces with different elastic properties: sand and a trampoline. Participants performed judgments in two conditions: (a) while standing and after having recently jumped on the surface in question and (b) while standing on a third control surface, eliminating haptic exploration of the surface in question. There was a high correlation between perceived maximum reachable height and actual maximum reachable height in all conditions. Judging performance on the basis of visual and haptic exploration of ground surface information was slightly overestimated, whereas performance on the basis of visual information alone was underestimated and variable for the different surfaces. The authors discuss possible causes for the observed errors. They emphasize that there is a considerable nonvisual aspect to the nature of the information specifying affordances for overhead reach and jumping and that perceptual performance is degraded when spontaneous exploratory movement is restricted.     

Base on balls for the Chapman strategy: Reassessing Brouwer, Brenner, and Smeets (2002)

A true understanding of skilled behavior includes the identification of the information that underlies the perception?Caction cycle at work. Often, observers?? sensitivity to perceptual variables is established in laboratory-situated simulation-based psychophysical experiments. The observers?? sensitivity thus determined is then used to draw conclusions that will generalize the findings to natural behavior. Focusing on the example of running to catch fly balls, the present contribution takes the study of Brouwer, Brenner, and Smeets (Perception & Psychophysics 64:1160?C1168, 2002) to illustrate how common assumptions in the steps from psychophysical experiments to natural behavior can result in ungrounded conclusions. These authors built an argument to reject the use of the Chapman strategy of zeroing out optical acceleration. For this argument, they determined the sensitivity of the visual system to acceleration, assuming that acceleration is detected as a velocity ratio. Next, they showed that catchers started running earlier than could be expected on the basis of sensitivity thresholds for this velocity ratio, concluding that running initiation could not have been based on optical acceleration. In the present study, we argue that important assumptions in the Brouwer et al. (Perception & Psychophysics 64:1160?C1168, 2002) line of argument are incorrect. First, we show how the assumption of parabolic ball flight trajectories, although convenient, biased Brouwer et al.??s (Perception & Psychophysics 64:1160?C1168, 2002) conclusion. Next, we present an experiment revealing that observers do not base their judgments of acceleration on the velocity ratio. Thus, we demonstrate that Brouwer et al.??s (Perception & Psychophysics 64:1160?C1168, 2002) argument that optical acceleration cannot serve as the information for running to catch fly balls does not hold.     

Individual differences in attachment and dispositional mindfulness: The mediating role of emotion regulation

Recent interest in the relationship between individual differences in attachment and dispositional mindfulness has led to empirical investigations into this association. Although several studies have demonstrated an association between attachment and mindfulness, little is known as to why these two seemingly distinct constructs are related. In a sample of 572 individuals we explored whether the relationship between attachment and mindfulness was mediated by emotion regulation difficulties. Difficulties in emotion regulation fully mediated the association between attachment anxiety and mindfulness, and between attachment avoidance and mindfulness. Thus, the mechanism by which attachment and mindfulness are related is through emotion regulation difficulties. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.     

Self-Regulation of Practice Behavior Among Elite Youth Soccer Players: An Exploratory Observation Study

This study aimed to measure behavioral correlates of self-regulation in elite youth soccer players. Behaviors regarded as indicative of self-regulated learning were identified by interviewing six expert youth soccer coaches. These behaviors were observed during practice of eight elite youth soccer players aged 15–17 years, and linked with self-reported self-regulated learning scores to describe behavioral correlates of self-regulation. Results indicated that self-regulated learning is reflected in taking responsibility for learning and that players’ practice environment plays a significant role. This study highlights the importance of measuring overt behavior to gain a complete impression of youth soccer players’ self-regulated learning skills.