Task Specificity and Anatomical Independence in Perception of Properties by Means of a Wielded Object

Behavior is typically organized with respect to a goal to be achieved rather than the anatomical components used in doing so. Similarly, perception is typically organized with respect to a property to be perceived rather than the anatomical components used in doing so. Such task specificity and anatomical independence is manifest in perception of properties of a wielded object. In 6 experiments, we investigated whether these properties might also be manifest in perception of properties by means of a wielded object. In particular, we investigated perception of whether a surface could be stood on when the object used to explore that surface is wielded by the preferred and nonpreferred hands (Experiment 1), by 1 or both hands (Experiment 2), by different 2-handed grips (Experiment 3), and by entirely different limbs (i.e., the hand and the foot, Experiments 4-6). In general, the results show that perception reflected the action capabilities of the perceiver but was largely unaffected by the (configurations of) anatomical components used to wield the object. The results