ABSTRACT
It is reasonable to suggest that this is an ambitious chapter. First, we introduce some concepts related to adaptability that might at first seem out of context. This is intentional; we start by discussing theoretical constructs related to human rationality. Through this we introduce Karl Popper’s ideas around the notion of propensities and then take this into more familiar ground by discussing the relationship of Popper’s ideas with the more familiar concepts of self-organization and affordances. We then change tack and connect these ideas up to a developing, if somewhat contentious, theory referred to as ‘optimal feedback control’ (OFC). We do this by introducing three empirical studies which, though seemingly counter-intuitive, are representative of the evolving OFC theory. A key feature of this theory is the human capacity for on-line (real time) movement corrections, allowing ultra-fast heuristics that facilitate feed-forward decision-making in movement. It is this capacity that enables adaptation. We commence our discussions with a metaphor drawn from the work of Simon: “Human rational behavior … is shaped by a scissors whose two blades are the structure of the task environments and the computational capabilities of the actor” (Simon, 1990, p. 7).
