Citation

Konczak J, Meeuwsen HJ, Cress ME. J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform. 1992; 18(3): 691-697.

Affiliation

Department of Physical Education and Dance, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

1500869

Abstract

This experiment extended Warren's leg-length model by investigating the relevance of leg strength and joint flexibility on perceptual judgments of climbability. From a set of 8 stairs (riser heights: 38-91 cm), 24 older and 24 young adults were asked to identify the highest stair they could climb without using their hands or knees. Subjects then attempted to climb the selected stair. Tall and short young observers perceived similar action boundaries despite leg-length differences. Tall and short older adults had divergent action boundaries when a single-scale leg-length model was applied. A regression model that used flexibility and leg-strength measurements provided a better fit of the older adult data, indicating that models applying functional (kinematic and kinetic) criteria might be useful in describing lawful relationships between organisms and the environment.

Language: en