Investigating affordance effects in people with high traits of developmental coordination disorder (DCD): An online stimulus-response compatibility study

Courtney Mansfield, Fraser W. Smith, Stephanie Rossit

Research output: Contribution to journalAbstractpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Automatic motor representations are thought to facilitate object use, a phenomenon termed the affordance effect. Most affordance experiments use the stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) paradigm, which elicits faster reaction times (RTs) when the handle orientation of a stimulus is compatible with the hand used to respond. The present study used an online SRC paradigm to investigate affordance effects remotely and investigated whether SRC effects would be affected by traits of developmental coordination disorder (DCD), given that this neurodevelopmental condition is often associated with sensorimotor deficits. Participants (N = 178) were presented with graspable objects, with handles oriented to the left or right, and completed 4 blocks of compatible and incompatible SRC trials. During experimental blocks they were asked to make upright vs. inverted judgments and in control blocks they completed colour judgements. Participants were screened for traits of DCD, dyslexia and ADHD. We replicated the SRC effects online, but only for the experimental task, in line with affordance interpretation. Additionally, we found that participants with high traits of DCD had significantly longer RTs in incongruent trials than those with low traits of DCD. These results were not mirrored in ADHD or dyslexia, suggesting that affordance effects may be sensitive to DCD.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)67
Number of pages1
JournalPerception
Volume50
Issue number1_SUPPL
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2021

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