Abstract
Changes in visual processing near the hands may assist observers in evaluating items that are candidates for actions. If altered vision near the hands reflects adaptations linked to effective action production, then positioning the hands for different types of actions could lead to different visual biases. I examined the influence of hand posture on attentional prioritization to test this hypothesis. Participants placed one of their hands on a visual display and detected targets appearing either near or far from the hand. Replicating previous findings, detection near the hand was facilitated when participants positioned their hand on the display in a standard open palm posture affording a power grasp (Experiments 1 and 3). However, when participants instead positioned their hand in a pincer grasp posture with the thumb and forefinger resting on the display, they were no faster to detect targets appearing near their hand than targets appearing away from their hand (Experiments 2 and 3). These results demonstrate that changes in visual processing near the hands rely on the hands' posture. Although hands positioned to afford power grasps facilitate rapid onset detection, a pincer grasp posture that affords more precise action does not.
Highlights
Changes in visual processing near the hands may assist observers in evaluating items that are candidates for actions
If altered vision near the hands reflects adaptations linked to effective action production, positioning the hands for different types of actions could lead to different visual biases
Participants were relatively faster to detect targets appearing near a hand positioned in the palm posture that affords a power grasp than targets appearing away from a hand: Hand Posture × Response Hand × Target Side interaction, F(1, 23) = 4.07, p = 0.056
Summary
Changes in visual processing near the hands may assist observers in evaluating items that are candidates for actions. While this work points to the ties between action affordances and changes in visual processing near the hands, previous investigations have focused almost exclusively on comparing performance in visual paradigms under conditions in which participants either take hold of a display with both hands (e.g., Abrams et al, 2008) or hold a single open hand on one side of the display (e.g., Reed et al, 2006) against performance in conditions in which both hands are positioned away from the display In these popular variations, observers position their hand(s) in a manner that affords a power grasp: the fingers function as a unit that can curl around an object to secure it against the palm. Such action-specific effects suggest that hand posture may influence changes in visual processing near the hands
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