2011/05/24 by Jessica K. Witt · 2 citations
Psychology · Medicine · #Sport Psychology and Performance #Action Observation and Synchronization #Sports Performance and Training #Psychology #Perception #Action (physics) #Cognitive psychology #Affect (linguistics) #Task (project management) #Social psychology #Communication
paper · doi:10.1177/0963721411408770
openalex publication_date 2011/05/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/16
According to the action-specific perception account, people perceive the environment in terms of their ability to act in it. For example, softball players who are hitting better see the ball as bigger. Factors that affect ability and thus influence perception include body size, body control and coordination, energetic potential, and the challenges of the task. Acknowledging the influence of ability on perception challenges the traditional view that perception provides an objective, behaviorally independent representation of the environment. Instead, perception captures the mutual relationship between the environment and the perceiver’s abilities. Consequently, these effects are potentially adaptive for helping perceivers plan future actions based on their abilities.