The calibration of walking transfers to crawling: Are action systems calibrated?

Calibration is needed to scale actions appropriately. Earlier studies suggested that calibration transfers to actions that serve the same goal (Rieser, Pick, Ashmead, & Gating, 1995). This experiment further tested this functional hypothesis by asking whether the calibration of walking transfers to crawling. To recalibrate walking, participants walked on a treadmill for 15 min in a virtual environment in which the visual speed was faster than, equal to, or slower than the walking speed. After each of these rearrangement phases, the participants had to walk or crawl to a seen place without vision. The distance locomoted showed that the calibration of walking generalized to crawling, which supports the functional hypothesis. It is suggested that action systems are calibrated.