To do or not to do: Principles of affordance based decision-making

• Applicant: Dr. Jennifer Randerath
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology ; Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 438470816

Perceived capabilities and given environmental properties determine whether a daily life situation prompts to perform a certain action (Affordance perception = perception of possibilities for action). A car is coming up the street, - am I fast enough to safely cross the road before it reaches me? We hypothesize that the involved decision processes (affordance judgments) are informed and activated by affordance perception, and that they are influenced significantly by prior experience and the anticipated action outcome. Some tasks appear to lead to overestimating our abilities while in others we seem to be rather cautious. Erroneous decisions due to overly conservative or liberal response tendencies or based on deficient perceptual sensitivity when discriminating possible versus impossible actions (e.g. after stroke) may lead to precarious situations. In order to generate potential approaches, that modulate and train these decisions in an optimal manner, we first need to elaborate on modulating factors.For generating the lead hypotheses we use a simplified working model based on the assumption of dynamic and interactive perception-action processes underlying affordance judgments. The simplified model opposes ideomotor elements (outcome-driven action planning) to sensorimotor elements (stimulus-driven perception) as key factors and stresses action related attentional processes as a centrally guiding element. Across studies affordance judgment performance is primarily described by signal detection measures and perceptual performance is mainly evaluated by control tasks. In study A we test the alterability of affordance judgments by manipulated object value (outcome-driven action planning) as well as the influence of prior experience with stimuli (stimulus driven perception). In study B we investigate the change in affordance judgment performance via training and the alterability of training effects by introducing action induced attentional processes (EnACTment) for when stimuli are presented not in a real but in a virtual environment. Study C elaborates on changed affordance judgment performance after brain damage due to stroke. This study illuminates possible correlations of deficient affordance judgments with neuropsychological profiles as well as the hypothesis that differential training-effects will be predictable based on brain damage centered in rather left-lateralized action-networks versus right-lateralized perception-networks.With our novel approaches elaborating on the modulation of affordance judgments we aim to prime needed progress towards the development of diagnostics and training approaches improving affordance judgment performance.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants