Experiencing objects. The role of the body.

In this study we investigated whether the kind of action (i.e. manipulation vs. function) elicited by a visually presented object is modulated by its location in space, that is, its being within or outside the perceivers‟ reach-ability. Second, we investigated whether reach-ability mainly relies on the actual motor potentialities of individuals rather than their cognitive estimates of motor possibilities. Results showed that the activation of the potential actions to perform with objects is modulated by object accessibility. They also showed that accessibility is exclusively linked to the actual rather than the estimated reaching ability of the perceiver. The framework emerging from our results suggests that our cognitive capabilities are built online, via the current information in an implicit way that emerges in behavior, and are not necessarily reflected in explicit estimates or conscious representations. We believe this has interesting implications for embodied cognition theories, as it helps us to better qualify the notion of objects and of body/embodiment.