Representation of actions within a conceptual space

Nick Barraclough*, Laura Vinton, Alessia Vlasceanu, Stephan de la Rosa

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

We evaluate the actions of other individuals based upon their movements and postures that reveal critical information to guide our decision making and behavioural responses. These signals convey information about the actor, their goals, intentions and internal mental states. To understand the structure of the conceptual space underlying action representation we assessed which action qualities were fundamental, and how individuals perceived actions on these dimensions. 240 different actions were rated by 230 participants on 23 action characteristics. Exploratory Factor Analysis showed that action space was four-dimensional, with the dimensions: friendly-unfriendly, formidable-feeble, intentional-accidental, abduction-adduction. We developed an action morphing method that used source actions located within action space to generate novel actions that lay along the different action dimensions. We measured action discrimination along each dimension using adaptive 2-AFC procedures, and found considerable variation in perceptual thresholds, varying up to ~1100%. This interindividual variation in action perception could not be explained by autistic traits. Together, our results show that actions are perceived on 4 fundamental dimensions: Friendliness and Formidableness appear similar to dimensions underlying face trait evaluation, whilst Intentionality and Abduction appear unique to actions. Our isolation of these dimensions allows the investigation of the conceptual representation of human actions.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 3 Jul 2024
EventExperimental Psychology Society Meeting - York, United Kingdom
Duration: 3 Jul 20245 Nov 2024

Conference

ConferenceExperimental Psychology Society Meeting
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityYork
Period3/07/245/11/24

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