The Gibsonian movement and Koffka’s <i>Principles of Gestalt Psychology</i>

In recent decades, several ecologically inclined authors have adopted the Gestalt idea of demand characters. Yet, James Gibson, the founder of the ecological approach, although being inspired by Koffka, was critical of many of his ideas, including the contention that the environment calls for certain actions. This article examines why Gibson was so reluctant to accept this concept of demand characters. To that end, the relationship between Gibson’s ecological approach and Gestalt psychology is scrutinized. After an exploration of the parallels between the frameworks of Gibson and Koffka, Gibson’s critique of Koffka’s masterpiece Principles of Gestalt Psychology is evaluated. It is argued that although Gibson’s claim about the mind–world dualism in which Koffka’s perspective is rooted is arguably valid, neither Gibson nor some of his recent devotees take Koffka’s insights into the qualities of experience sufficiently seriously in their theorizing

The social constitution of ecological psychology in the Netherlands

This chapter is about the influence of Harry Heft's empirical, theoretical, and historical work on the ecological movement in the Netherlands. We commence with a sketch of the formative years of the ecological approach in our country. In the 1980s, a group of opinionated human movement scientists at the VU Amsterdam found inspiration in the Gibsonian approach, mostly through the physical approach that was laid out by Kugler and Turvey. As the ecological landscape in the Netherlands changed however, Heft became one of the leading theorists in the ecological community. Heft wrote several eminent papers, showing the scope and power of a sociohistorical turn in ecological psychology. Heft's ideas about the nature of the environment, the primacy of the social, and the experiential aspects of human perception and action inspired many in the Dutch community. We discuss this work and highlight Heft's mark on recent ecological theorizing and experimenting in the Netherlands

The social constitution of ecological psychology in the Netherlands

This chapter is about the influence of Harry Heft's empirical, theoretical, and historical work on the ecological movement in the Netherlands. We commence with a sketch of the formative years of the ecological approach in our country. In the 1980s, a group of opinionated human movement scientists at the VU Amsterdam found inspiration in the Gibsonian approach, mostly through the physical approach that was laid out by Kugler and Turvey. As the ecological landscape in the Netherlands changed however, Heft became one of the leading theorists in the ecological community. Heft wrote several eminent papers, showing the scope and power of a sociohistorical turn in ecological psychology. Heft's ideas about the nature of the environment, the primacy of the social, and the experiential aspects of human perception and action inspired many in the Dutch community. We discuss this work and highlight Heft's mark on recent ecological theorizing and experimenting in the Netherlands

Productive pluralism:The coming of age of ecological psychology

The ecological approach to psychology has been a main antecedent of embodied and situated approaches to cognition. The concept of affordances in particular has gained currency throughout psychological science. Yet, contemporary ecological psychology has seemed inaccessible to outsiders and protective of its legacy. Indeed, some prominent ecological psychologists have presented their approach as a "package deal"-a principled and unified perspective on perception and action. Looking at the history of the field, however, we argue that ecological psychology has developed in rich and pluriform ways. Aiming to open the field to critical engagement and productive exchange, we identify three major strands of thought within ecological psychology, each of which emerged in the 20 years after Gibson's death: physical, biological, and social ecological psychology. Each of these strands develop ecological ideas in quite different directions, making different use of some of its central concepts, adopting different explanatory principles, and embodying different philosophical worldviews. Proponents of the ecological approach have been arguing for pluralism within cognitive science to make room for ecological psychology. Given the diversity of the strands, we extend this plea to within ecological psychology itself; the field is better off aiming for a productive pluralism in which the different strands are in dialogue with each other. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).</p

'The End of Sitting':An Empirical Study on Working in an Office of the Future

Background Inspired by recent findings that prolonged sitting has detrimental health effects, Rietveld Architecture Art Affordances (RAAAF) and visual artist Barbara Visser designed a working environment without chairs and desks. This environment, which they called The End of Sitting, is a sculpture whose surfaces afford working in several non-sitting postures (e.g. lying, standing, leaning). Objective In the present study, it was tested how people use and experience The End of Sitting. Eighteen participants were to work in this environment and in a conventional office with chairs and desks, and the participants' activities, postures, and locations in each working environment were monitored. In addition, participants' experiences with working in the offices were measured with a questionnaire. Results It was found that 83 % of participants worked in more than one non-sitting posture in The End of Sitting. All these participants also changed location in this working environment. On the other hand, in the conventional office all but one participant sat on a chair at a desk during the entire work session. On average, participants reported that The End of Sitting supported their well-being more than the conventional office. Participants also felt more energetic after working in The End of Sitting. No differences between the working environments were found in reported concentration levels and satisfaction with the created product. Conclusion The End of Sitting is a potential alternative working environment that deserves to be examined in more detail

Aldo van Eyck's Playgrounds:Aesthetics, Affordances, and Creativity

After World War II, the Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck developed hundreds of playgrounds in the city of Amsterdam. These public playgrounds were located in parks, squares, and derelict sites, and consisted of minimalistic aesthetic play equipment that was supposed to stimulate the creativity of children. Over the last decades, these playgrounds have been studied by sociologists, theorists of art and architecture, and psychologists. Adopting an ecological approach to the human environment, it is argued that the abstract forms of van Eyck’s play sculptures indeed stimulate the creativity of the child. Whereas a slide or a swing almost dictates what a child is supposed to do, van Eyck’s play equipment invites the child to actively explore the numerous affordances (action possibilities) it provided. However, it is argued that the standardization (e.g., equal distances between blocks or bars) that tends to characterize van Eyck’ play equipment has negative effects on the playability. This standardization, which was arguably the result of the aesthetic motives of the designer, might be appealing to children when simply looking at the equipment, but it is not of overriding importance to them when playing in it. Indeed, a recent study indicates that the affordances provided by messy structures appear to have a greater appeal to playing children

Perception of maximum distance jumpable remains accurate after an intense physical exercise and during recovery

Earlier studies have revealed that changes in action capabilities due to fatigue or wearing a backpack have an effect on the perception of distance in meters or steepness in angles. Although these findings are interesting by themselves, they leave us uninformed about whether the accuracy of affordance perception is affected by fatigue. Are people still capable of accurately perceiving the maximum distance jumpable after an intense physical exercise? In the present experiment, this question is addressed. We found that after maximal exertion in a squatting task, the actual maximum jumping distance significantly decreased, but recovered quickly. Interestingly, on average, the participants accurately perceived their maximum jumping distance both before and after the squatting task. Apparently, the accuracy of the affordance perception remains intact after an intense physical exercise. The implications of this finding are discussed