Week 37 - Why Perception & Action? Flashcards
Q: How did The Sensorimotor Approach think of Actions?
Hommel et al. (2016). Introduction and Overview: Human Action Control
A: Actions were viewed as responses to external stimuli - like stimulus-driven responses.
- this cannot account for voluntary actions without a stimulus
How did The Ideomotor Approach think of Actions?
Hommel et al. (2016). Introduction and Overview: Human Action Control
A: Actions were believed to be chosen based on an intention (action goal) and on what action is believed to accomplish that goal - like goal-driven actions
- this underestimates external / environmental influences in the actions we make
Q: What are Hard and Soft Constraints (that affect Action Generation)
Rosenbaum & Feghhi. (2019). The time for action is at hand. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
A: Hard constraints are the physical constraints on what our bodies can and cannot do - like how we cannot fly
Soft constraints are, for example, the various effects that make some actions feel more natural than others - e.g. how we often choose actions that make the end-state the most comfortable.
These soft constraints can be overwritten.
A: What are Retrospective effects (in relation to effects on Soft Constraint)
Rosenbaum & Feghhi. (2019). The time for action is at hand. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
Q: Retrospective effects are effects of past actions on the present actions - like the parameter remapping effect (actions planned to differ as little as possible from the just performed actions) and the hand-path priming effect
A: What are Prospective effects (in relation to effects on Soft Constraint)
Rosenbaum & Feghhi. (2019). The time for action is at hand. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
Q: Prospective effects are effects of future actions on the present actions - like the end-state comfort effect
Q: What is Fitt’s law
Rosenbaum & Feghhi. (2019). The time for action is at hand. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
A: a predictive model for movement times to a target depending on the distance to the target and the size of the target
- useful for placing targets we want to be used more frequently as we can place them somewhere to minimise the effort needed to reach them
What is the “Readiness Principle”?
Rosenbaum & Feghhi. (2019). The time for action is at hand. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
The Readiness Principle suggests that people perceive time as passing more slowly when they are prepared to act, reflecting increased attention to the expected moment of action.
How does the study relate to the “internal clock” theory in time perception?
Rosenbaum & Feghhi. (2019). The time for action is at hand. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
The study supports the idea that the brain’s internal clock speeds up during action anticipation, leading to the perception that time is dragging.
What counter-intuitive outcome did Rosenbaum & Feghhi find about delayed actions?
Rosenbaum & Feghhi. (2019). The time for action is at hand. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
When participants were prepared to act but forced to wait, they felt that time moved slower, suggesting readiness can be counterproductive when actions are unexpectedly delayed.
