School of Kinesiology > Research Laboratories and Centers > APAL
Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory (APAL)
The Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory at the University of Minnesota is part of the School of Kinesiology, in the College of Education and Human Development. The APAL is the successor to the Human Factors Research Laboratory.
The perceptual guidance of action, and the use of motor activity to obtain perceptual information are two of the central aspects of animate behavior. Even one-celled organisms perceive to move, and move to perceive. Research on relations between perception and action is relatively recent in the behavioral sciences, and APAL is a leader in quantitative research in this area. Our focus is on the integration of perception and action in the context of meaningful behaviors. Relations between properties of the environment and properties of the organism have consequences for behavior. These relations, known as affordances, are directly relevant to the success of our interactions with the environment and, accordingly, perception and action should be concentrated on learning about affordances and on the use of affordances to achieve behavioral goals. Our focus on affordance perception-action is inspired by the Ecological Approach to Perception and Action.
In the APAL, our study of relations between affordances and perception-action straddles the boundary between basic and applied science. That is, our research on “basic” issues commonly has implications for the design and use of human-machine systems, and our research on “applied” issues commonly has implications for general theories of affordance perception-action. Our applied work relates primarily to the Human Factors of perception and action in virtual environments, and is inspired by the Ecological Approach to Human-Machine Systems.
APAL's research on motion sickness was featured recently on the University of Minnesota's eNews and on WCCO-TV. It was also featured in the News Scan section of the April 2009 issue of Scientific American.
APAL's research on ships at sea was featured in a recent podcast as a "University of Minnesota Moment".
Headlines
Stoffregen and colleagues to be published in PLOS ONE
Thomas A. Stoffregen, Ph.D., director of the Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory and professor of kinesiology, along with four colleagues, have had an article, "Getting Your Sea Legs," accepted for publication ... [Read Full Story]
Stoffregen gives talk at NYU
Thomas Stoffregen, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology, gave a talk at New York University in the Department of Psychology on April 25. His talk was titled, "How Plato ... [Read Full Story]
Alumna receives NASPSPA Outstanding Student Paper Award
School of Kinesiology alumna Azizah Jor'dan, Ph.D., was recently selected by the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) to receive the Outstanding Student Paper ... [Read Full Story]
Stoffregen and colleagues to publish in Gait and Posture
Thomas Stoffregen, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology, along with doctoral candidate Yi-Chou Chen, alumni Fu-Chen Chen, Ph.D., and Taiwanese colleagues, are to publish in, Gait and Posture. Their ... [Read Full Story]
Stoffregen to participate in show at Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Thomas Stoffregen, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology, will be participating at a free exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts (MIA) entitled, "Superimpostor." Minnesota artists, David Bowen ... [Read Full Story]
Munafo awarded 2013-14 DOVE Fellowship
Justin Munafo has been awarded a 2013-2014 Diversity of Views & Experiences (DOVE) Fellowship from the Office for Diversity in Graduate Education. Munafo has been admitted to the Kinesiology Ph.D. ... [Read Full Story]