Older adults are guided by their dynamic perceptions during aperture crossing

Perceptions guide actions and these actions will affect perceptions (Gibson [1]). In return, these new perceptions will affect subsequent actions. The current study aimed to determine if the action differences previously observed in young and older adults are due to differences in perception and whether perceptual judgments guide action. Young (n = 10) and older adults (n = 9) completed two tasks; (1) judge the passability of various sized apertures during static and dynamic conditions and (2) physically pass through similar aperture sizes. The perceptual tasks required participants to give a yes/no response as to whether they could pass through an aperture (0.9–1.8 times SW (SW)) without rotating their shoulders from a distance of 5 m from the aperture. During the passage through the aperture, the participants approached the aperture (1–1.8 times the SW) along a10 m path at a self-selected pace and passed through the aperture using a suitable method. Results from the aperture crossing confirmed that older adults produce shoulder rotations at larger relative aperture widths than young adults and are more variable in their shoulder rotations at each aperture width. Perceptual results indicated that older adults had similar static but different dynamic perceptions than the young adults. The observed age-related differences in dynamic perceptions were most likely the result of differences in dynamic balance control.

► We had young and older adults perceive their action capabilities followed by them walking through apertures.
► We used static doors with apertures ranging from 0.9 to 1.8 times each participant's shoulder width.
► Young adults’ actions match their static and dynamic perceptions of action capabilities.
► Older adults had similar static perceptions as young adults but only their dynamic perceptions matched their actions.
► Perceptions of action capabilities appear to be a function of dynamic stability levels, which in turn affect actions.