Perceiving Multiple Affordances for Objects

Three experiments examined whether the perception of one of an object's affordances affects the detection of another affordance. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with collections of artifacts, such that one third had only the Afford ance 1 (O-AFF 1, e.g., scoop-with), another third had only Affordance 2 (O-AFF 2, e.g., pierce-with), and the remaining objects had both affordances (O-AFF 1,2). Neither affordance was the one for which the artifacts had been designed. Tasks 1 and 2 required participants to identify objects with Affordances 1 and 2, respectively. The results showed the perception of first affordance decreased the likelihood of identifying the second affordance for O-AFF 1,2. Experiment 2 determined that O-AFF 2 were not simply better instances of the second affordance than O-AFF 1,2. Experiment 3 demonstrated the basic pattern of results was specific to judgments of objects' functions (affordances) and was not obtained with judgments of physical properties (color, shape). Finally, Experiment 4 showed the similarities in the nesting of affordances within complex goal-directed affordances predicted whether people are likely to notice a second affordance of an object. Neisser's (1976) active looking paradigm and his concept of a perceptual cycle may provide a useful framework for understanding the failure to notice the second affordance for an object as the failure to pick up goal-related information for affordances.