Gleichgewichtsleistungen im Handlungsbezug

Dynamic balance performance is neither the objective of conscious actions nor the result of unwitting behavior (cf. Groeben & Scheele, 1993). It is more appropriately conceptualized as an affordance extraction and in each mode of coordination is subject to the specific demands of personal, task-related, and environmental conditions (Newell, 1984, 1996; Nitsch, 1995). Skilled balance performance is thus never achieved for its own sake but is rather integrated in the functional interrelationship of activity goals. Unlike the concept of resources, additional tasks as viewed from this perspective do not necessarily decrease balance performance, but can even serve as positive motivation. Therefore, it is justifiable to raise doubts about a paradigm where the test subjects are required to sway as little as possible during measurement. We assume that postural control is not autonomous, but rather functional as an integrated part of a specific system of motion information (Bootsma, 1998). With these theoretical assumptions in mind, some of the research approaches that abound in the literature are presented and our own research strategy that is intended to be more ecological is outlined.