Perceiving affordances for another person's actions

The perception of affordances for the actions of other people (actors) was examined. Observers judged the maximum and preferred sitting heights of tal l and short actors. Judgments were scaled in centimeters, as a proportion o f the observer's leg length, and as a proportion of each actor's leg length . In Experiment 1 observers viewed live actors standing next to a chair. Wh en judgments were scaled by actor leg length, they reflected the actual ord inal relation between the capabilities of the actors. The perception of aff ordances from kinematic displays was then evaluated. Observers differentiat ed tall and short actors, but only when the displays contained direct infor mation about relations between the actors and the chair. It is concluded th at observers can perceive affordances for the actions of actors and that ki nematic displays can be enough to support such percepts if they preserve ac tor-environment relations that define affordances.