The perception of objects changes depending on how our body can interact with them.

Before the era of digital cameras—the ones we now have embedded in our cell phones—the world of photography was very different. The quality of an image depended on a crucial factor: the grain of the photographic film. Each image was formed by small silver halide crystals, whose arrangement determined the sharpness and detail that could be captured.

If the film used was coarse-grained, the result was a low-resolution photograph. Fine details were lost in the texture of the grain, and what remained was only an approximate impression of the photographed scene. A landscape could transform into a blurry image open to interpretation. There were no precise pixels or enhancement algorithms, only the art of knowing how to choose the right moment and type of film, with its inherent limitations.

James Gibson, one of the most influential theorists in the field of visual perception, introduced a revolutionary approach through his ecological theory of perception. In his view, perception is not an internal process where the brain constructs representations of the world from sensory fragments, but a direct process in which the information relevant to interacting with the environment is available within the environment itself. He proposed that we perceive the world in terms of the possibilities for interaction with it, which he called affordances (or “opportunities for action”). A tree, for instance, is perceived in relation to the possibility of climbing it, using it for shade, or as an obstacle to circumvent. Similarly, climbers look for opportunities of action in the routes set by route setters in a competition.

French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty developed a deep vision of visual perception within his phenomenological approach. For him, perception is not simply a passive process where our eyes receive objective information from the external world. Instead, it is a deeply active and embodied act, involving not only the senses but also the body and the subjective experience of being in the world. Visual perception is deeply rooted in our interaction with the environment through our movement and bodily capabilities.

Maurice Merleu-Ponty

The perception of objects changes depending on how our body can interact with them. If something is too small, we do not perceive it as relevant for our action; if something is too large, it could represent a challenge or be perceived from another perspective. In climbing, we can further discriminate the usefulness of each hold according to our repertoire and skill level. A beginner might see a foothold as useless, while an expert climber will recognize it as a crucial element for solving a problem.

When gathering visual information for climbing, usually during observation periods, whether in a competition or any other climbing situation, the body is the center of the perceptual experience and is in constant interaction with what we are perceiving. We don’t just perceive images that enter our eyes; rather, we perceive the world through a bodily act in which the body explores, interprets, and relates to the environment. Visual perception is not a mere mechanical process but is tied to action. For Merleau-Ponty, perception is always directed toward something, which in phenomenology is called intentionality. This means that when we observe a hold or a volume, we do not perceive it in isolation but as part of a network of meanings and relationships between those holds and ourselves. We not only see a hold but also how to grasp it in relation to our body position, the other supports, the previous move, and the next one.

Everything we observe is related to our movement possibilities that we have incorporated—our repertoire of movements. We can consider this repertoire as high-level knowledge structures stored in long-term memory. This repertoire allows expert climbers to quickly understand and anticipate the characteristics of a climb. It helps identify familiar climbing movement patterns based on the arrangement of holds and group the visual perceptual stimuli into a climbing choreography that consists of a series of movements.

The broader this repertoire of movements, the greater the possibilities for action based on what is observed, enabling the development of one or more strategies for future execution. Visualization is a process that involves processing visual sensory inputs, gathering useful information through the visual cues of the holds, shapes, and volumes in the route, and then mentally rehearsing the movements (Medernach et al., 2024).

In a study (Medernach et al., 2024), the authors analyzed the visualization strategies of expert climbers using eye-tracking lenses. Their findings revealed that the cognitive-behavioral processes during route preview were associated with climbing experience and the difficulty of the boulder. Experts’ superior cognitive skills contribute to a quicker and more conscious perception of visual cues, more efficient visual search strategies, and better identification of representative patterns compared to lower-level climbers.

Boulder difficulty and the climber’s skill level influence the duration of the preview, the number of scans, and the scanning strategy. Both the repertoire of climbing movements developed through long-term deliberate practice and the appropriate perceptual judgment of climbing abilities explain the experience-based processing paradigm during boulder preview. Specific activity knowledge is essential for decoding sensory input, capturing functional aspects, and identifying opportunities for action.

Another study by the same authors (Medernach et al., 2024) analyzed the strategic planning of thirty climbers in a simulated competition. Their findings support previous research, revealing that performance in competitive bouldering is associated with climbers’ ability to develop appropriate climbing strategies in relation to the movements presented by different boulders in a competition. The best-performing climbers exhibited a superior repertoire of climbing movements, enabling them to quickly interpret visual sensory input and identify significant climbing movement patterns during boulder preview.

In this way, the climber becomes the “grain” of the photographic paper when visualizing and perceiving the holds, shapes, volumes, and movements that define the execution of a boulder. Just as the grain of photographic film influences the clarity and detail of an image, the climber’s movement repertoire and perceptual experience determine the quality of visualization and climbing planning. The more refined this repertoire, the greater the climber’s ability to detect key signals, interpret action possibilities, and develop effective strategies to tackle the challenge, allowing for more precise and conscious decision-making on the wall.

Juan Martín Miranda

References

Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Medernach, J. P., Sanchez, X., Henz, J., & Memmert, D. (2024). Cognitive-behavioural processes during route previewing in bouldering. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 73, Article 102654.

Medernach, J. P., Sanchez, X., Henz, J., & Memmert, D. (2024). Cognitive-behavioural processes during route previewing in bouldering. Psychology of Sport & Exercise 73 (2024) 102654