The role of the action context in object affordance

Emotions Modulate Affordances-Related Motor Responses: A Priming Experiment

Traditionally, research on affordances and emotions follows two separate routes. For the first time, this article explicitly links the two phenomena by investigating whether, in a discrimination task (artifact vs. natural object), the motivational states induced by emotional images can modulate affordances-related motor response elicited by dangerous and neutral graspable objects. The results show faster RTs: (i) for both neutral and dangerous objects with neutral images; (ii) for dangerous objects with pleasant images; (iii) for neutral objects with unpleasant images. Overall, these data support a significant effect of emotions on affordances. The article also proposes a brain neural network underlying emotions and affordance interplay.

The Influence of Visually Dangerous Information on Imitation in Children

Previous studies have demonstrated that when perceiving the actions of another agent, individuals will automatically imitate those observed actions. This study investigated how children's imitation of physical actions was influenced by either visually neutral or visually dangerous information. Participants were presented with a series of pictures in which an agent was reaching towards either a neutral object or a dangerous object. Results showed that the imitation effect occurred when the agent was observed reaching and grasping a neutral object. However, this effect was not present when the agent's hand was observed reaching towards or grasping, the non-handle side of a dangerous object. These results suggest children can predict potential behavioral consequences and adjust their imitative action depending on the perceived danger of the action.