From Direct Perception to the Primacy of Action: A Closer Look at James Gibson's Ecological Approach to Psychology

The objective of the present study is to introduce the philosophical position and the core concepts of the Ecological Approach to Perception and Action, emphasizing its principles and its uniqueness in relation to other theories related to motor behavior. The Ecological Approach, as opposed to other approaches, assumes the direct realism as its philosophical standpoint. Thus, the Ecological Approach to Perception and Action proposes the concepts of specificity, direct perception and affordance. By assuming the direct realism, the Ecological Approach to Perception and Action commits to the mutuality animal environment and perception and action, and proposes that the dualism, commonly found in other theories, does not contribute to the understanding of human motor behavior. The choice of a given theory, during the process of scientific investigation, implies in a commitment to the philosophical views and to the principles and assumptions in which it is based. The knowledge about the core concepts of the Ecological Approach may support the decision making process about accepting or rejecting the ideas advanced by James Gibson and, consequently, direct the use of this theory to the development of investigations on perception and action.

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Music and affordances

Musicae Scientiae ◽

10.1177/1029864911435734 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 102-120 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

W. Luke Windsor ◽

Christophe de Bézenac

Keyword(s):

Auditory Perception ◽

Perception And Action ◽

Theoretical Background ◽

Direct Perception ◽

Ecological Approach ◽

Musical Settings ◽

Music Psychology ◽

Empirical Context ◽

Musical Context ◽

Perceptual Systems

This paper explores the extent to which ideas developed in The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems and further refined in The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception ( Gibson, 1966 ; 1979 ) can be applied to the analysis of perception and action in musical settings. The ecological approach to perception has rarely been applied to music, although some recent work in ecological acoustics, music theory and music psychology has begun to show an interest in direct perception of events and objects. We would argue that despite this pioneering work, Gibson’s most radical and controversial idea, that of the direct perception of affordances ( Gibson, 1979 ), has not been adequately addressed in a musical context. Following an introduction to the theoretical background to affordances and a review of the ways in which previous authors have investigated ecological approaches to auditory perception, we show how both the production and perception of music can fruitfully be analysed using the concept of affordances, and how such an approach neatly integrates seemingly active and passive engagement with music. In addition, we place this ecological approach to music within a broader empirical context, giving examples of music-psychological, ethnomusicological and neuroscientific evidence which complement our more theoretical approach. In conclusion, we argue that the links between the performance, composition and reception are underpinned by the mutuality of perception and action.

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A Review of Affordances and Affordance-Based Design to Address Usability

Proceedings of the Design Society: International Conference on Engineering Design ◽

10.1017/dsi.2019.141 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 1353-1362 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nafiseh Masoudi ◽

Georges M. Fadel ◽

Christopher C. Pagano ◽

Maria Vittoria Elena

Keyword(s):

Engineering Design ◽

Ecological Theory ◽

Ecological Psychology ◽

Direct Perception ◽

Ecological Approach

AbstractMaier and Fadel pioneered Affordance-Based Design (ABD) based on Gibson's revolutionary theory of affordances and Norman's deployment of the concept in his book, “The Design of Everyday Things”. Gibson (1979) introduced the affordance concept into the discipline of Ecological Psychology to address the interactions between an object and an agent. The Ecological approach includes the direct perception of affordances for the user along with a consideration of the users’ biomechanics. However, as the concept of affordance was imported and utilized in different disciplines, including engineering design, some important aspects of Ecological theory were omitted.This paper is an attempt to review the definitions and different utilizations of the affordance concept focusing on the design of usable products to identify the different views and the missing elements. After addressing the divergent viewpoints of affordances, we provide recommendations to improve the usability aspects in ABD by considering direct perception and ergonomics. We claim that a design (based on affordances) that fails to address both criteria may result in a product that is less usable.

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The common structure is the affordance in the ecology

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x99222170 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 731-732 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Paul J. Treffner

Keyword(s):

Perception And Action ◽

Categorical Perception ◽

Information Gathering ◽

Direct Perception ◽

Ecological Approach ◽

Mutual Benefit ◽

Common Structure ◽

The Common ◽

Definition Of ◽

Perception Action

Millikan's discussion of substance concepts in terms of their information-gathering role ignores the analyses of information-based perception and action developed within the tradition of ecological psychology. Her introduction and use without definition of key Gibsonian terms such as “affordance” and “direct perception” leaves those of us investigating such concepts uncertain of the extent to which she appreciates their theoretical importance. Due recognition of the realist account of categorical perception developed by J. J. Gibson would provide mutual benefit to modern externalist philosophy as well as to experimental psychology and to those investigating the ecological approach to perception–action.

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Interface Theory vs Gibson: An Ontological Defence of the Ecological Approach

10.31234/osf.io/zbkqd ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Andrew D Wilson

Keyword(s):

Direct Perception ◽

Ecological Approach ◽

Interface Theory ◽

The World ◽

Perceptual Systems

Interface theory (Hoffman, Singh & Prakesh, 2015) is the hypothesis that inferential, representational theories of perception entail that fitness, not truth, dictates the evolution of perceptual systems. They show, with simulations, that ‘veridical’ perceptual mappings (ones that preserve at least some of the structure of the world) are routinely out-competed by ‘non-veridical’ interfaces (ones that make no attempt to preserve that structure). They therefore take particular aim at the direct perception, ecological approach to perception (Gibson, 1966, 1979; Turvey, Shaw Reed & Mace, 1981) and work to show that such a system, even if technically an option, would never be selected for by evolution.. This commentary defends the ecological approach from this novel attack by showing that a) Gibson does not make the mistakes he is accused of and, more substantively b) that the ecological hypothesis is so different in kind to the inferential, representational view of perception that it simply falls outside the scope of interface theory’s critiques. The heart of this defence is identifying the profoundly different ontologies (assumptions about the nature of the world to be perceived) underlying inferential and ecological approaches, and examining the consequences of these ontologies (including key problems for the inferential ontology that interface theory makes clear). Interface theory is a strong, clear formalisation of the inferential ontology, but it has no fatal implications for the ecological approach.

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On specification and the senses

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x01003946 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 195-213 ◽

Cited By ~ 126

Author(s):

Thomas A. Stoffregen ◽

Benoît G. Bardy

Keyword(s):

Perception And Action ◽

Physical Reality ◽

Direct Perception ◽

Ecological Approach ◽

Physical Motion ◽

Order Relations ◽

Target Article ◽

Acoustic Arrays ◽

Perceptual Systems ◽

Taste And Smell

In this target article we question the assumption that perception is divided into separate domains of vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. We review implications of this assumption for theories of perception and for our understanding of ambient energy arrays (e.g., the optic and acoustic arrays) that are available to perceptual systems. We analyze three hypotheses about relations between ambient arrays and physical reality: (1) that there is an ambiguous relation between ambient energy arrays and physical reality, (2) that there is a unique relation between individual energy arrays and physical reality, and (3) that there is a redundant but unambiguous relation, within or across arrays, between energy arrays and physical reality. This is followed by a review of the physics of motion, focusing on the existence and status of referents for physical motion. Our review indicates that it is not possible, in principle, for there to be a unique relation between physical motion and the structure of individual energy arrays. We argue that physical motion relative to different referents is specified only in the global array, which consists of higher-order relations across different forms of energy. The existence of specificity in the global array is consistent with the idea of direct perception, and so poses a challenge to traditional, inference-based theories of perception and cognition. However, it also presents a challenge to much of the ecological approach to perception and action, which has accepted the assumption of separate senses.

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Collective Human Agency in the Context of Organizational Participation

Zeitschrift für Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie A&O ◽

10.1026/0932-4089/a000234 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 61 (2) ◽

pp. 51-68 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Wolfgang Georg Weber ◽

Hans Jeppe Jeppesen

Keyword(s):

Collective Efficacy ◽

Social Cognitive ◽

Work Motivation ◽

Human Agency ◽

Employee Participation ◽

Ecological Approach ◽

Cognitive Approach ◽

Organizational Decision Making ◽

Organizational Participation ◽

The Social

Abstract. Connecting the social cognitive approach of human agency by Bandura (1997) and activity theory by Leontiev (1978) , this paper proposes a new theoretical framework for analyzing and understanding employee participation in organizational decision-making. Focusing on the social cognitive concepts of self-reactiveness, self-reflectiveness, intentionality, and forethought, commonalities, complementarities, and differences between both theories are explained. Efficacy in agency is conceived as a cognitive foundation of work motivation, whereas the mediation of societal requirements and resources through practical activity is conceptualized as an ecological approach to motivation. Additionally, we discuss to which degree collective objectifications can be understood as material indicators of employees’ collective efficacy. By way of example, we explore whether an integrated application of concepts from both theories promotes a clearer understanding of mechanisms connected to the practice of employee participation.

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