TY - JOUR PY - 1992// TI - Changing affordances in stair climbing: the perception of maximum climbability in young and older adults JO - Journal of experimental psychology: human perception and performance A1 - Konczak, J. A1 - Meeuwsen, H. J. A1 - Cress, M. E. SP - 691 EP - 697 VL - 18 IS - 3 N2 - This experiment extended Warren's leg-length model by investigating the relevance of leg strength and joint flexibility on perceptual judgments of climbability. From a set of 8 stairs (riser heights: 38-91 cm), 24 older and 24 young adults were asked to identify the highest stair they could climb without using their hands or knees. Subjects then attempted to climb the selected stair. Tall and short young observers perceived similar action boundaries despite leg-length differences. Tall and short older adults had divergent action boundaries when a single-scale leg-length model was applied. A regression model that used flexibility and leg-strength measurements provided a better fit of the older adult data, indicating that models applying functional (kinematic and kinetic) criteria might be useful in describing lawful relationships between organisms and the environment.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0096-1523 UR - http://dx.doi.org/ ID - ref1 ER -