Action-perception patterns emerge from coupling and adaptation

Organisms function in particular environments, the properties of which are reflected in the structure of their nervous systems. Therefore, sensory information may directly specify motor behaviors. We argue that such specification involves the coupling of sensory information into appropriately structured control systems that generate action. The nature of this coupling as well as the structure of the control systems reflect properties of the environment. This is most dramatically demonstrated when adaptive processes adjust the underlying control system in response to changes in the environ ment. Experimental and modeling work on posture in perturbed visual and haptic environments is reviewed to provide evidence for these arguments. Theoretical modeling and autonomous robotics work that goes beyond the posture example of perception-action coupling is briefly discussed, primarily to point out that the integration of multiple behavioral constraints is a nontrivial problem that has received too little attention.