Choosing efficient actions: Deciding where to walk


Autoři: Sally A. Linkenauger aff001;  Veronica Weser aff002;  Dennis R. Proffitt aff002
Působiště autorů: Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom aff001;  Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America aff002
Vyšlo v časopise: PLoS ONE 14(9)
Kategorie: Research Article
doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219729

Souhrn

Humans evolved to be endurance animals. Our ancestors were persistence hunters; they would chase animals, including gazelles, until they ran them into exhaustion. Put simply, people evolved in an ecological niche that selected for endurance and efficiency of locomotion. To locomote to any destination, one could take countless different paths, each requiring different amounts of energy. Because the ground is typically not flat or homogeneous, the straight direct path is often not the most energetically efficient. For hills below 14°, the direct straight path up the hill is the most energetically efficient. However, for hills above 14°, walkers would minimize their absolute energy expenditure by taking a zigzagged path so that their gradient of ascension is 14° [1]. In three experiments, we assessed the degree to which people make bioenergetically efficient decisions about locomotion through path selection. In Experiment 1, people were immersed into a virtual environment and adjusted the angle of ascension of a virtual path up hills of various gradients so that when taking the path, they would expend the least amount of energy when they reached the top. The second experiment was of a similar design, but was conducted in the real word. In the last experiment, in a virtual environment, participants choose between two paths up hills of various gradient, where these paths varied in the energy required for ascent. Participants made these judgements both before and after motor experience with gradient climbing on an incline trainer. For steep hills, we found that people choose much straighter paths over the bioenergetically optimal zigzagged paths. Motor experience did lead to higher probability for choosing optimal paths for steep hills, but lead to less optimal paths for shallower ones. These results show clearly that individuals show a straight path bias when deciding how to ascend hills.

Klíčová slova:

Bioenergetics – Biological locomotion – Climbing – Decision making – Running – Virtual reality – Walking – Conservation of energy


Zdroje

1. Minetti AE. Optimum gradient of mountain paths. Journal of Applied Physiology. 1995 Nov 1;79(5):1698–703. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1995.79.5.1698 8594031

2. Bramble DM, Lieberman DE. Endurance running and the evolution of Homo. Nature. 2004 Nov 18;432(7015):345–52. doi: 10.1038/nature03052 15549097

3. Carrier DR, Kapoor AK, Kimura T, Nickels MK, Satwanti, Scott EC, et al. The energetic paradox of human running and hominid evolution [and comments and reply]. Current Anthropology. 1984 Aug 1;25(4):483–95.

4. Bobbert AC. Energy expenditure in level and grade walking. Journal of Applied Physiology. 1960 Nov 1;15(6):1015–21.

5. Minetti AE, Ardigo LP, Saibene F. Mechanical determinants of gradient walking energetics in man. The Journal of physiology. 1993 Dec 1;472(1):725–35.

6. Minetti AE, Ardigo LP, Saibene F. The transition between walking and running in humans: metabolic and mechanical aspects at different gradients. Acta Physiologica. 1994 Mar 1;150(3):315–23.

7. Minetti AE, Moia C, Roi GS, Susta D, Ferretti G. Energy cost of walking and running at extreme uphill and downhill slopes. Journal of applied physiology. 2002 Sep 1;93(3):1039–46. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01177.2001 12183501

8. Gomeñuka NA, Bona RL, da Rosa RG, Peyré‐Tartaruga LA. Adaptations to changing speed, load, and gradient in human walking: cost of transport, optimal speed, and pendulum. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 2014 Jun, 24(3), e165–e173.

9. Llobera M, Sluckin TJ. Zigzagging: Theoretical insights on climbing strategies. Journal of theoretical biology. 2007 Nov 21;249(2):206–17. doi: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.07.020 17892887

10. Rees WG. Least-cost paths in mountainous terrain. Computers & Geosciences. 2004 Apr 1;30(3):203–9.

11. Hatze H, Buys JD. Energy-optimal controls in the mammalian neuromuscular system. Biological cybernetics. 1977 Mar 1;27(1):9–20. doi: 10.1007/bf00357705 889959

12. Sparrow WA, Hughes KM, Russell AP, Le Rossignol PF. Effects of practice and preferred rate on perceived exertion, metabolic variables and movement control. Human Movement Science. 1999 Jun 30;18(2):137–53.

13. Sparrow WA, Newell KM. Metabolic energy expenditure and the regulation of movement economy. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 1998 Jun 1;5(2):173–96.

14. Lin DC. Optimal running patterns of the lower extremity in running. PhD Thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1980.

15. Cavanagh PR, Williams KR. The effect of stride length variation on oxygen uptake during distance running. Medicine and science in sports and exercise. 1982;14(1):30–5. doi: 10.1249/00005768-198201000-00006 7070254

16. Sparrow WA, Newell KM. Energy expenditure and motor performance relationships in humans learning a motor task. Psychophysiology. 1994 Jul 1;31(4):338–46. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1994.tb02442.x 10690914

17. Salvendy G, Pilitsis J. Improvements in physiological performance as a function of practice. International Journal of Production Research. 1974 Jan 1;12(4):519–31.

18. Sparrow WA, Irizarry-Lopez VM. Mechanical efficiency and metabolic cost as measures of learning a novel gross motor task. Journal of Motor Behavior. 1987 Jun 1;19(2):240–64. doi: 10.1080/00222895.1987.10735410 14988061

19. Atkinson B, Bennett S, Kennedy S. New Zealand's South Island. Lonely Planet; 2010.

20. Corlett EN, Hutcheson C, DeLugan MA, Rogozenski J. Ramps or stairs: The choice using physiological and biomechanic criteria. Applied ergonomics. 1972 Dec 1;3(4):195–201. 15677102

21. Gigerenzer G. Gut feelings: The intelligence of the unconscious. Penguin; 2007.

22. Proffitt DR, Bhalla M, Gossweiler R, Midgett J. Perceiving geographical slant. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 1995 Dec 1;2(4):409–28.

23. Proffitt DR, Linkenauger SA. Perception viewed as a phenotypic expression. Action science: Foundations of an emerging discipline. 2013 Feb 1;171.

24. Attenborough D, writer & director. Food for Thought [Television series episode]. In Salisbury M. (Producer), The life of mammals; 2003; London, UK: BBC Natural History Unit.

25. Bhalla M, Proffitt DR. Visual–motor recalibration in geographical slant perception. Journal of experimental psychology: Human perception and performance. 1999 Aug;25(4):1076. doi: 10.1037//0096-1523.25.4.1076 10464946


Článek vyšel v časopise

PLOS One


2019 Číslo 9
Nejčtenější tento týden