Is there an affordance effect with two-handled objects? Scerrati Elisa
Background: Empirical evidence suggests that objects’ visual features relevant for action (e.g. the
orientation of a cup’s handle) may activate congruent motor responses even when actual interactions with the object are not required. These objects’ properties, known as micro-affordances, have so far been studied with one-handled objects, that is, objects that present a graspable handle on one side only, and, hence, can be grasped with one hand. The present study was aimed at investigating whether graspable objects that are usually grasped by two hands (i.e. two-handled objects; e.g. shears) elicit similar motor responses.
Methods: Participants were asked to categorize two-handled objects as being mainly used in the kitchen for cooking purposes or during spare time for amusement purposes. Each object could appear as not grasped, as grasped by the two hands, or as grasped by one hand only (i.e., left or right). When the object was grasped by one hand only, the hand could be spatially compatible (on the same side) or incompatible (on the opposite side) with the response key.
Results: Participants showed a better performance for the compatible compared to the incompatible condition, indicating a facilitation for the processing of two-handled objects when they appeared as grasped on one side.
