Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Postural sway and perception of affordances in children at risk for developmental coordination disorder

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Experimental Brain Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Gibson (The ecological approach to visual perception, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1979/1986) defined affordances as opportunities for motor behaviors, and highly emphasized the interaction between perception and action. Research on children with developmental coordination disorder commonly reports difficulties in judgments of affordances (perception) and in postural control (action). However, how perception and action are coupled has not been studied yet. The present study sought to evaluate the relationship between control of postural sway and perception of affordances in children at risk for developmental coordination disorder (RDCD) and typically developing children (TDC). We hypothesized that the relationship between perception and action would differ between groups. Participants made a series of judgments about their maximum sitting height (SHmax) while standing with and without wearing 10 cm blocks on feet. Postural sway and the judgment accuracy were recorded. Our findings showed that RDCD swayed more during judgment sessions and made less accurate judgments compared to TDC. In addition, TDC reduced postural sway from inter-judgment to judgment sessions, whereas the postural sway of RDCD remained identical between sessions. Last, while TDC reduced postural sway across judgment trials and revealed a learning effect of the judgments about SHmax in the block condition, RDCD never modulated postural sway and did not learn their SHmax in both non-block and block conditions. Overall, modulation of postural sway differed between groups during judgment sessions and between inter-judgment and judgment sessions, whereby their perceptual judgments about SHmax were differentially influenced. To summarize, this study demonstrated a difference in perception and action coupling between RDCD and TDC.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adolph KE (1995) Psychophysical assessment of toddlers’ ability to cope with slopes. J Exp Psychol Hum 21(4):734–750

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Adolph KE (2002) Learning to keep balance. In: Kail R (ed) Advances in child development and behavior. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Adolph KE, Eppler MA, Marin L, Weise IB, Clearfield MW (2000) Exploration in the service of prospective control. Infant Behav Dev 23:441–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association (2000) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edn. American Psychiatric Association, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersen RA, Snyder LH, Li CS, Stricanne B (1993) Coordinate transformations in the representation of spatial information. Curr Opin Neurobiol 3:171–176

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brotchie PR, Andersen RA, Snyder LH, Goodman SJ (1995) Head position signals used by parietal neurons to encode locations of visual stimuli. Nature 375:232–235

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter MG, Murnaghan CD, Inglis JT (2010) Shifting the balance: evidence of an exploratory role of postural sway. Neuroscience 171:283–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen LC, Metcalfe JS, Chang TY, Jeka JJ, Clark JE (2008) The development of infant upright posture: sway less or sway differently? Exp Brain Res 186:293–303

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chen FC, Tsai CL, Stoffregen TA, Wade MG (2011) Postural responses to a suprapostural visual task among children with and without developmental coordination disorder. Res Dev Disabil 32:1948–1956

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cordo PJ, Flores-Vieira C, Verschueren SMP, Inglis JT, Gurfinkel V (2002) Position sensitivity of human muscle spindles: single afferent and population representations. J Neurophysiol 87:1186–1195

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dupaul GJ, Power TJ, AnastoPoulos AD, Reid R (1998) ADHD rating scale II: checklists, norms, and clinical interpretation. Guilford, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Fajen BR, Riley MA, Turvey MT (2009) Information, affordances and the control of action in sport. Int J Sport Psychol 40(1):79–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Gandevia SC (1996) Kinesthesia: roles for afferent signals and motor commands. In: Rowell LB, Shepard TJ (eds) Handbook of physiology. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 128–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Geuze RH (2003) Static balance problems in children with developmental coordination disorder. Hum Mov Sci 22:527–548

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson JJ (1979/1986). The ecological approach to visual perception. Houghton Mifflin, Boston

  • Gibson EJ, Rader N (1979) Attention: the perceiver as performer. In: Lewis M, Hale GA (eds) Attention and cognitive development. Plenum, New York, pp 1–21

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson SE, Sugden DA, Barnett AL (2007) Movement assessment battery for children, 2nd edn. The Psychological Corporation, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Higuchi T, Takada H, Matsuura Y, Imanaka K (2004) Visual estimation of spatial requirements for locomotion in novice wheelchair users. J Exp Psychol Appl 10:55–66

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Horak FB, Macpherson JM (1996) Postural orientation and equilibrium. In: Shepard J, Rowell L (eds) Handbook of physiology. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 255–292

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson D, Wade MG (2007) Judgment of action capabilities in children at risk for developmental coordination disorder. Disabil Rehabil 29:33–45

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson D, Wade MG (2009) Children at risk for developmental coordination disorder: judgment of changes in action capabilities. Dev Med Child Neurol 51:397–403

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy PM, Inglis JT (2002) Distribution and behaviour of glabrous cutaneous receptors in the human foot sole. J Physiol 538:995–1002

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lee DN, Aronson E (1974) Visual proprioceptive control of standing in human infants. Percept Psychophys 15:529–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee DN, Lishman JR (1975) Visual proprioceptive control of stance. J Hum Mov Stud 1:87–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopresti-Goodman SM, Richardson MJ, Baron RM, Carello C, Marsh KL (2009) Task constraints on affordance boundaries. Mot Control 13:69–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Marin L, Bardy BG, Baumberger B, Flückiger M, Stoffregen TA (1999) Interaction between task demands and surface properties in the control of goal-oriented stance. Hum Mov Sci 18:31–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mark LS (1987) Eyeheight-scaled information about affordances: a study of sitting and stair climbing. J Exp Psychol Hum 13:361–370

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mark LS, Balliet JA, Craver KD, Douglas SD, Fox T (1990) What an actor must do in order to perceive the affordance for sitting. Ecol Psychol 2:325–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murnaghan CD, Horslen BC, Inglis JT, Carpenter MG (2011) Exploratory behavior during stance persists with visual feedback. Neuroscience 195:54–59

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oudejans RRD, Michaels CF, Bakker FC, Dolne M (1996) The relevance of action in perceiving affordances: perception of catchableness of fly balls. J Exp Psychol Hum 22:879–891

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Plumert JM (2003) Children’s overestimation of their physical abilities: links to injury proneness. In: Savelsbergh G, Davids K, van der Kamp J, Bennett JS (eds) Development of movement coordination in children. Routledge, New York, pp 29–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Riccio GE (1993) Information in movement variability about the qualitative dynamics of posture and orientation. In: Newell KM, Corcos DM (eds) Variability and motor control. Human Kinetics, Illinois, pp 317–357

    Google Scholar 

  • Riley MA, Mitra S, Stoffregen TA, Turvey MT (1997) Influences of body lean and vision on unperturbed postural sway. Mot Control 1:229–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Riley MA, Wagman JB, Santana MV, Carello C, Turvey MT (2002) Perceptual behavior: recurrence analysis of a haptic exploratory procedure. Perception 31:481–510

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schott N, Alof V, Hultsch D, Meermann D (2007) Physical fitness in children with developmental coordination disorder. Res Q Exerc Sport 78(5):438–450

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schwebel DC, Plumert JM (1999) Longitudinal and concurrent relations between temperament, ability estimation, and injury proneness. Child Dev 70:700–712

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sparto PJ, Jasko JG, Loughlin PJ (2004) Detecting postural responses to sinusoidal sensory inputs: a statistical approach. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehab Eng 12:360–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoffregen TA (2003) Affordances as properties of the animal-environment system. Ecol Psychol 15:115–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoffregen TA, Riccio GE (1988) An ecological theory of orientation and the vestibular system. Psychol Rev 95:3–14

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stoffregen TA, Pagulayan RJ, Bardy BG, Hettinger LJ (2000) Modulating postural control to facilitate visual performance. Hum Mov Sci 19:203–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoffregen TA, Yang CM, Bardy BG (2005) Affordance judgments and nonlocomotor body movement. Ecol Psychol 17(2):75–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoffregen TA, Bardy BG, Bonnet CT, Pagulayan RJ (2006) Postural stabilization of visually guided eye movements. Ecol Psychol 18:191–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoffregen TA, Riley M, Hove P, Bonnet CT, Bardy BG (2007) Postural stabilization of perceptual but not cognitive performance. J Motor Behav 39(2):126–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoffregen TA, Yang CM, Giveans MR, Flanagan M, Bardy BG (2009) Movement in the perception of an affordance for wheelchair locomotion. Ecol Psychol 21(1):1–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taguchi K, Tada C (1988) Change of body sway with growth of children. In: Amblard B, Berthoz A, Clarac F (eds) Posture and gait: development, adaptation and modulation. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 59–65

    Google Scholar 

  • te Velde AF, van der Kamp J, Savelsbergh G (2003) Road-crossing behaviour in young children. In: Savelsbergh G, Davids K, van der Kamp J, Bennett SJ (eds) Development of movement coordination in children. Routledge, New York, pp 41–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsai CL, Wu SK, Huang CH (2008) Static balance in children with developmental coordination disorder. Hum Mov Sci 27:142–153

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Turvey MT (1992) Affordances and prospective control: an outline of the ontology. Ecol Psychol 4:173–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler D (1974) Manual for the Wechsler intelligence scale for children. Psychological Corporation, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolff DR, Rose J, Jones VK, Bloch DA, Oehlert JW, Gameble JG (1998) Postural balance measurements for children and adolescents. J Orthop Res 16:271–275

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yu Y, Bardy BG, Stoffregen TA (2011) Influences of head and torso movement before and during affordance perception. J Motor Behav 43(1):45–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We extend our thanks to Thomas A. Stoffregen for his invaluable suggestions regarding this work. Thanks also to the National Science Council in Taiwan for supporting this project (NSC 102-2410-H-020-023-MY2).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Recreational Sport and Health Promotion, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, 1, Xuefu Road, Neipu Township, Pingtung County, 912, Taiwan

    F. C. Chen

  2. Institute of Physical Education, Health and Leisure Studies, National Cheng Kung University, 1, University Road, Tainan City, 701, Taiwan

    C. L. Tsai

  3. Department of Sport Performance, National Taiwan University of Physical Education and Sport, 16, Section 1 Shuangshih Road, Taichung City, 404, Taiwan

    S. K. Wu

Authors
  1. F. C. Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. L. Tsai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S. K. Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to F. C. Chen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chen, F.C., Tsai, C.L. & Wu, S.K. Postural sway and perception of affordances in children at risk for developmental coordination disorder. Exp Brain Res 232, 2155–2165 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3906-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3906-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation