Last year we were invited to contribute to a special issue of Avant, an interdisciplinary open access journal that publishes in English and Polish. The issue is on affordances, and we were asked to contribute a piece detailing the contribution ecological psychology is making to modern cognitive science. Our paper is here; the complete issue is open access and available here (currently as separate files; single issue pdf coming soon, and Polish translation sometime in the new year)We had a lot of fun with this paper. The core of the paper comes from our posts about how psychology lacks a central theory and how Gibson serves as a good model for why theory matters, as well as being a key part of any more complete theory. We take a quick swipe at Daryl Bem and JPSP and then use the contrast between dynamic pattern vs. perception-action approaches in explaining coordinated rhythmic movement. In particular, we highlight Geoff's model as an exemplar of what psychologists should be up to - not just models, but theoretically motivated models.
We'd like to thank Tony Chemero for mentioning us to the people at Avant, and to the Avant team who do interesting work and gave us space to write what we hope will be a fun and useful paper.
By the by, Avant are hosting a very interesting looking conference next year:
THINKING WITH HANDS, EYES AND THINGS. The 1st edition of the International Avant-Conference “Trends in Interdisciplinary Studies”, 8-10 November 2013, Torun, Poland
Avant, Volume III, Issue 2/2012 (October-December)
Preface
A REMEDY CALLED AFFORDANCE
A. Klawiter: What will you do to me when you see me?
Anthony P. Chemero: With the most profound misgivings. Interview
D. Dotov, L. Nie & M. de Wit: Understanding affordances
S. Golonka & A. Wilson: Gibson’s ecological approach - a model for the benefits of a theory driven psychology
A. Barsingerhorn, F. Zaal, J. Smith & G-J. Pepping: Possibilities for Action
T. Horton, A. Chakraborty & R. Amant: Affordances for robots
A. Costall: Canonical affordances in context
A. Alsmith: The concept of a structural affordance
M. Dombrowski: Complexity – emergence – ecological cognition
T. Komendziński: Multimodal dynamics of coordination
M.T. Turvey: From Physical Education to Physical Intelligence. Comments Short Bio
Selected literature on affordances
Embodied Interviews
T. Froese: Sense-making with a little help from my friends. Introduction
E. Di Paolo & H. De Jaegher: Sense-making with… Interview
P. Nowakowski: I told no one. Introduction
F. de Vignemont: How many bodies we can find in one mind… Interview
Book Reviews
D. Lubiszewski: The redness of red
D. Lubiszewski: Complexity is around us
A. Tuszyński: Bringing sociality into the realm of the brain physics
M. Karpiński: Language in Action
Studies on Musical Practise
D. Menin & A. Schiavio: Rethinking Musical Affordances
Interviews with Marcin Oleś and Bartłomiej Brat Oleś
Artist of the issue
Teresa Young: Painting from the Inside Out
