Affordances for Movement
Ecological psychology is an approach to understanding human perception and behavior that emphasizes the fact that humans are fully “embedded” in their environments. It was developed to correct a perceived blindspot in traditional psychology, which was overly focused on explaining behavior purely in terms of internal events in the brain. Ecological psychology shifts emphasis away from the question: “what’s inside your head?”, and toward a different question: “what’s your head inside of?”
The ecological psychologist James Gibson coined the term “affordance” to describe features of the environment that create possibilities for useful actions. Classic examples are the handle on a tea cup, or the railing on a stairway. Each affords an easier way to perform a task. When we see a couch, we perceive a good place for sitting, and are therefore “invited” to sit down. When kids see trees with low branches, they see the opportunity for climbing. Escalators afford the chance to ascend stairs without effort. Hiking trails invite exploration of physical space, while iPads do the same for virtual space. Thus, the presence of affordances will continually shape your movement behavior.
What does this environment invite you to do? Sit? Take a nap? Sprint? Jump? Climb?
Some affordances can only be perceived with skill. When a novice rock climber looks at a climbing route, he may not perceive the easiest pathway. But an experienced climber will immediately see the solution, e.g. the right foot moves to foothold A, at the same time that the left-hand leans on position B, which affords the possibility to reach a handhold at position C and so forth. Part of climbing skill is perceiving the hidden affordances that are there and ready to help you, if only you can see them.
This is especially true in team sports, where the relative positions of teammates, opponents, sidelines, and balls will determine movement opportunities. When Tom Brady drops back to pass, his eyes look on a rapidly changing landscape of opening and closing green spaces, with large men running left and right, half of them trying to kill him. Most people would look at this scene and see only terrifying chaos, but Brady sees potential solutions: blockers he can hide behind, open spaces to run, receivers who can catch a pass. This is a huge part of his skill as a quarterback. His accurate perceptions immediately invite the correct actions.
Modern environments are filled with affordances for sedentary behavior — comfy chairs, elevators, magical screens that help you explore the world with the swipe of a finger, and delicious foods within easy reach. One way to improve your health is to eliminate some of these invitations to laziness - keep junk food out of sight, hide smartphones and laptops near bed time. Other strategies involve adding invitations to movement. I sometimes leave soccer balls, kettlebells, or resistance bands in conspicuous areas of the house. I find pull-up bars especially attractive — I can’t resist a few swings or hangs when I see that one is within reach.
In my basement, I make sure to leave carpeted floor space free for rolling around or playing with my daughters. Of course, there are many things about my home environment I can’t change. I would love to have some nice hiking trails behind my house, but instead my back door opens onto a small patch of grass covered in dog poop. The reality is that most of us are not able to make major changes to our environments. But perhaps we can change the way they see the environment.
Skateboarding and parkour developed when people started to look at urban jungles as obstacle courses. My friend Rafe Kelley started the first parkour gym here in Seattle. The name of the gym, Parkour Visions, refers to the way parkour athletes see the world — benches are for vaulting, walls for mounting, poles for swinging. Different perception leads to different action. And this works in reverse as well — action changes perception. When you develop a new skill set, you see the opportunities to put it to use. What would happen if you developed some basic Parkour skills? You might start to see the world around you as a playground.
I think this is a good reason to develop basic literacy in skills that can be used in the gym. For better or worse, fitness clubs are where most people find the most convenient and socially sanctioned opportunities for vigorous movement. People who know how to do basic lifts like squats, deadlifts, and cleans are far more likely to look at a gym and see a playground. Not everyone will find gyms inviting, but the success of CrossFit and many other box gyms was built on the reality that barbells, squat racks, gymnastic rings, medicine balls and pull-up bars can be fun. (They also fit pretty well into garages.)
The preceding was an adapted excerpt from my new book Playing With Movement: How to Explore the Many Dimensions of Performance and Health.
Here are some other posts that examine the role of the environment in shaping movement behavior: