Handles lost in non-reachable space

Recent evidence indicates that we experience manipulable objects as graspable, provided that they fall within our reaching space. Nevertheless, such evidence comes from studies using virtual objects that have poor ecological validity. Here, we used a spatial alignment effect paradigm and systematically examined this effect when a real handled object was presented at four different distances, namely near-reaching space, actual-reaching space, perceived-reaching space, and non-reaching space. Participants responded with either the right or the left hand as soon as the real object, a mug with the handle oriented toward the left or right, was presented. We found spatial compatibility effect only when the object was presented in the near-reaching and actual-reaching spaces. Results suggest that the activation of the potential actions to perform with objects is modulated by object accessibility. They also suggest that accessibility is exclusively linked to the actual rather than the estimated reaching ability of the perceiver. Results are discussed within the theoretical framework of embodied cognition.

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