Intellectual Journeys in Ecological Psychology

471 Pages·2022·11.24 MB·English

by  Agnes Szokolszky, Catherine Read, Zsolt Palatinus

“This is a wonderful collection of in-depth interviews with many leading
ecological psychologists, sandwiched between reflections on the past and future
of the discipline. This book not only shows the excitements and struggles of
the first wave of ecologists, but also reveals how the approach took shape in the
two decades after the founding father James Gibson had passed away. A group of
opinionated scholars with a motley collection of thrilling ideas and some serious
disagreements about how to take the Gibsonian approach further. A must-read for
all ecological psychologists, and of great value to historians and sociologists of
science interested in the emergence of new approaches.”
Rob Withagen, Assistant Professor at the Department of Human Movement
Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen,
the Netherlands. He is the author of Affective Gibsonian Psychology
“The researchers featured in Interviews in Ecological Psychology are among the
first few generations of ecological psychologists. Subsequent generations of
ecological psychologists (myself included) have benefitted from their ground-
breaking contributions to the field. And now, we can also benefit from an
understanding of the context in which those contributions emerged. One of the
great lessons of the ecological approach is that the successful performance of
everyday behavior can only be understood in the broader context of the
environment in which that behavior occurs. This book is an acknowledgement
that the very same thing is also true about the field of ecological psychology itself
(and fields of science in general).”
Jeff Wagman, professor of Psychology at Illinois State University, United States,
and an Associate Editor of the journal Ecological Psychology
“This volume will offer something for anyone wanting a deeper appreciation
of the ecological approach. Agnes Szokolszky’s interviews interlace accessible
accounts of the theories and methods that shaped the field with engaging stories of
personal dispositions, surprise findings and chance encounters to which the field
would in turn give shape. Placed in a wider context by essays from leading
scholars, the resulting collection serves not only as an important historical
document but also as a powerful reminder of the pluralism of views that makes
a science.”
Ludger van Dijk, philosopher based at the group for Systemic Change at the
Eindhoven University of Technology and at the Centre for Philosophical
Psychology at the University of Antwerp, in Belgium
“Reading these interviews has been humbling. You know you are in the presence
of some of the greatest theoreticians of Psychology. The sources of their
theoretical commitments and the paths their thinking has traveled through are
fascinating. More importantly, they are significant for understanding the shape of
psychology as a discipline. The book may engender feelings of regret – thinking of
the many missed chances in the psychological sciences. However, these powerful
interviews give me hope: maybe they will stir the theoretical consciences of the
new generation of thinkers in Psychology. Maybe they will serve to halt blinkered
empiricism and bring philosophical depth into every piece of research we do.”
Vasudevi Reddy, Emeritus Professor of Development and
Cultural Psychology at the University of Portsmouth. She is the
author of How Infants Know Minds, winner of the
British Psychological Society’s Best Book Award, 2011
INTELLECTUAL JOURNEYS IN
ECOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
Intellectual Journeys in Ecological Psychology: Interviews and Reflections from Pioneers in
the Field presents 12 in-depth interviews with prominent scientists associated with
Ecological Psychology, rooted in James Gibson’s radical approach to perception.
Featuring a mix of interviews conducted around the turn of the millennium with
leading figures of Ecological Psychology, the book reveals discussions not previously
found in publications and authentic personal perspectives about the early days of
Ecological Psychology, a significant paradigm of post-cognitivist psychology. The
interviews are supplemented by current reflections that bridge the past to the present.
Each interview chapter also contains a brief biography of the interviewee and a
list of their top ten most significant publications. An introductory chapter by Harry
Heft provides an overview of Gibson’s theory and the post-Gibsonian theoretical
landscape. A further chapter by the editors highlights lineages and patterns in the
scientific careers and work of the interviewees. An epilogue by William Warren
concludes the volume, addressing the current state and directions of Ecological
Psychology. In the Appendix photographs taken by Sverker Runeson in the 1960s
and 1970s show scenes and actors from scientific events in Ecological Psychology.
This book will be beneficial to all researchers and students in the international
community of Ecological Psychology. It will also serve as a starting point for
those who wish to learn more about the movement and origins of Ecological
Psychology.
Agnes Szokolszky received her Ph.D. at the Center for the Ecological Study of
Perception and Action at the University of Connecticut, in 1996. She worked at
the University of Szeged as Head of the Institute of Psychology and Head of the
Cognitive and Neuropsychology Department. Her main research focus is on the
Ecological Approach to metaphor and pretend play, critical thinking in psy-
chology, theoretical issues in cognitive science, and the history of psychology.
Catherine Read received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the
University of California, Los Angeles, in 1980. She has taught and conducted
research at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Miami University,
Ohio; the University of Connecticut, and, currently, at Rutgers University and
Ithaca College. Her research has centered on the Ecological Approach to novel
metaphor and on elaborating on Developmental Ecological Psychology.
Zsolt Palatinus received his Ph.D. at the Center for the Ecological Study of
Perception and Action at the University of Connecticut, in 2013. He works at the
University of Szeged in Hungary. His research focuses on multiscale interactions
between the perceiver and the environment as a source of specificity in percep-
tion, action, and cognition.
Resources for ecological psychology
A Series of Volumes Edited By
Jeffrey B. Wagman & Julia J. C. Blau
[Robert E. Shaw, William M. Mace, and Michael Turvey,
Series Editors Emeriti]
Dexterity and Its Development
Edited by Nicholai A. Bernstein, Mark L. Latash, and Michael T. Turvey
Ecological Psychology in Context
James Gibson, Roger Barker, and the Legacy of William James’s Radical Empiricism
Harry Heft
Perception as Information Detection
Reflections on Gibson’s Ecological Approach to Visual Perception
Jeffrey B. Wagman and Julia J. C. Blau
A Meaning Processing Approach to Cognition
What Matters?
John Flach and Fred Voorhorst
Behavior and Culture in One Dimension
Sequences, Affordances, and the Evolution of Complexity
Dennis P. Waters
Affective Gibsonian Psychology
Rob Withagen
Introduction to Ecological Psychology
A Lawful Approach to Perceiving, Acting, and Cognizing
Julia J. C. Blau and Jeffrey B. Wagman
Intellectual Journeys in Ecological Psychology
Interviews and Reflections from Pioneers in the Field
Edited by Agnes Szokolszky, Catherine Read, and Zsolt Palatinus

INTELLECTUAL
JOURNEYS IN
ECOLOGICAL
PSYCHOLOGY
Interviews and Reflections
from Pioneers in the Field
Edited by Agnes Szokolszky,
Catherine Read, and Zsolt Palatinus
Cover image: Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Agnes Szokolszky, Catherine Read
and Zsolt Palatinus; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Agnes Szokolszky, Catherine Read and Zsolt Palatinus to be
identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-367-75012-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-75010-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-16072-4 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003160724
Typeset in Bembo
by MPS Limited, Dehradun
CONTENTS
List of Figures xiv
List of Table xv
List of Contributors xvi
Preface xviii
Acknowledgments xxiii
1 The landmarks of the Gibsonian Ecological
Approach to visual perception and the landscape
of post-Gibsonian thought 1
Harry Heft
Landmarks in the development of Gibson’s Ecological Approach
and their recent history 2
The Landscape of ecological psychology post-1979: Background to
the Interviews 34
Different streams of ecological thought post-1979: A history 39
Coda: The enigma that is “ecological psychology” 57
Notes 58
References 59
2 Eleanor J. Gibson – Interview and reflection 65
Agnes Szokolszky, Karen Adolph, Catherine Read,
and Zsolt Palatinus
Biography 66
Ten most significant publications 66