The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception: Classic Edition

347 Pages·2014·3.79 MB·English

by  James J. Gibson

THE ECOLOGICAL APPROACH
TO VISUAL PERCEPTION
This book, fi rst published in 1979, is about how we see: the envir onm ent
around us (its surfaces, their layout, and their colors and textures); where we are
in the enviro nm ent; whether or not we are moving and, if we are, where we
are going; what things are good for; how to do things (to thread a needle or
drive an auto mobile); or why things look as they do.
The basic assumpt ion is that vision depends on the eye which is connec ted to
the brain. The author suggests that natural vision depends on the eyes in the head
on a body suppor ted by the ground, the brain being only the central organ of a
complete visual system. When no constraints are put on the visual system, people
look around, walk up to some thing intere sti ng and move around it so as to see it
from all sides, and go from one vista to another. That is natural vision — and
what this book is about.
James J. Gibson (1904–1979) is one of the most important psychologists of the
20th Century, best known for his work on visual perception. He received his
Ph.D. from Princeton University and his fi rst major work was The Perception of
the Visual World (1950) in which he rejected behaviorism for a view based on his
own experimental work.
In his later works, including T he Ecological Approach to Visual Perception
(1979), Gibson became more philosophical and criticized cognitivism in the
same way he had attacked behaviorism before, arguing strongly in favor of
direct perception and direct realism, as opposed to cognitivist indirect realism.
He termed his new approach “ecological psychology”.
Gibson’s legacy is increasingly infl uential on many contemporary movements
in psychology, particularly those considered to be post-cognitivist.
Psychology Press Classic Editions
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By James J. Gibson
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The New Psychology of Language (Classic Edition): Cognitive and
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Edited by Michael Tomasello
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Edited by Michael Tomasello
Principles of Learning and Memory (Classic Edition)
By Robert G. Crowder
Psychologists on Psychology (Classic Edition)
By David Cohen
Attention and Emotion (Classic Edition)
By Adrian Wells and Gerald Matthews
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Edited by Patricia M. Greenfi eld and Rodney R. Cocking
Mind and Media: The Effects of Television, Video Games, and
Computers (Classic Edition)
Patricia M. Greenfi eld
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THE ECOLOGICAL
APPROACH TO VISUAL
PERCEPTION
Classic Edition
James J. Gibson
Classic Edition published 2015
by Psychology Press
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First published by Taylor & Francis Group, 1986
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-84872-577-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-84872-578-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-74021-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk, UK
To my son and daugh ter
with pride
and to Eli, Michael, and Elizabeth
with love
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface xi
Introduction xiii
Introduction to the Classic Edition xvii
PART I
The Environment to be Perceived 1
1 The Animal and the Environment 3
2 Medium, Substances, Surfaces 12
3 The Meaningful Environment 28
PART II
The Information for Visual Perception 39
4 The Relationship Between Stimulation and
Stimulus Information 41
5 The Ambient Optic Array 58
6 Events and the Information for Perceiving Events 85