Historicizing affordance theory: A rendezvous between ecological psychology and cultural-historical activity theory

Pedersen, Sofie; Bang, Jytte

doi:10.1177/0959354316669021

Cited by 38 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Owing to their social-developmental history, then, individuals bring to any given “present moment” a set of dispositions and skills to act that are attuned to affordances and to places. By virtue of that history, these dispositions have a retrospective character—these actions are “history turned into nature” (Bourdieu, 1977, p. 78)—and when expressed on the tide of ever-emerging goals, they have a prospective character (see Pederson & Bang, 2016). In addition, being adept at engaging affordances and participating in social settings contributes to an individual’s growing feelings of social competence and self-efficacy in their world (Chawla & Heft, 2002).…”

Section: The Social Reality Of the Human Econichementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Theory & Psychology has provided a venue over a number of years for articles examining the social dimensions of Gibsonian ecological psychology (e.g., Costall, 1995; Good, 2007; Pederson & Bang, 2016; van Djik & Withagen, 2014, 2016). To orient readers unfamiliar with this form of ecological psychology, 1 suffice it to say here at the outset that James J. Gibson (1966, 1967, 1979) saw ecological psychology most fundamentally as offering the unorthodox view within perceptual psychology and philosophy of mind that individuals experience the environment directly.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Ecological psychology as social psychology?

Heft

2020

Theory & Psychology

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Several articles published in this journal over a number of years have examined the social dimensions of Gibsonian ecological psychology. The present paper picks up several of their themes, with an emphasis on the social developmental consequences of individuals participating in community structures and engaging the affordances that support them. From this perspective, the situated nature of activity in everyday settings is examined, which in turn highlights the role of places as higher order emergent eco-psychological structures (or behavior settings) in everyday life. Moreover, ecological psychology’s discovery of occluding edge effects, which demonstrates that objects that have gone out of sight are experienced as persisting in awareness, serves as the basis for a proposal that the awareness of social structures of a conceptual nature may arise from the pragmatics of perception–action from an ecological perspective.

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Section: The Social Reality Of the Human Econichementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological psychology as social psychology?

Heft

2020

Theory & Psychology

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“…The foundation for affordance literature was Gibson's [35] suggestion that individuals discern diverse possibilities for action in their environments (see extended discussion in [36]). The idea of children's affordances was then developed by Heft [37,38] and has informed environmental psychology [39], technology studies [40], children's geographies [41], environmental education [42], political science and peace and conflict studies [43], and studies of young people's individual and social development [44].…”

Section: The Contribution Of the Theory Of Urban Affordances To Measumentioning

confidence: 99%

Young people and environmental affordances in urban sustainable development: insights into transport and green and public space in seven cities

et al. 2020

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Background Cities are at the fore of sustainability challenges of the twenty-first century, and many, particularly in Asia and Africa, are predominantly youthful spaces. Understanding young people’s experiences in urban environments is therefore important as we strive to achieve both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. Two amenities identified in the urban Sustainable Development Goal 11, transport and public and green space, are specifically recognised as applying to youth. Yet, there is little analysis that explicitly considers how youth experience these amenities across the Global North and South, and no current measures for understanding progress in youth experiences of green space and transport. Results This paper provides a comparative analysis of young people’s experiences with local transport and green space in seven diverse urban communities (Christchurch, New Zealand; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Lambeth/London, UK; Makhanda, South Africa; New Delhi, India; São Paulo, Brazil; and Yokohama, Japan). Our study contributes to a growing body of literature that seeks to listen to child and youth perspectives to understand their environmental experiences. We examine the ‘affordances’ young residents aged 12 to 24 years currently associate with green space and transport amenities. Affordances are defined here as the inter-relationships between what a local environment offers young people and their perceptions and actions. Drawing on focus groups and interviews conducted with 332 young people, we identify five affordances young people associate in relation to transport and public space across these diverse urban settings: (1) social inclusion and belonging; (2) autonomy; (3) physical comfort and security; (4) relaxation and reflection; and (5) health and fitness. Conclusions The paper contributes to growing interdisciplinary research interest in measuring affordances as a way to advance the Sustainable Development Goals in an urban context. In providing a comparative account of young people’s experiences across diverse contexts, our discussion highlights how affordances in relation to transport or public and green space can help understand the multiple interconnections between the well-being of young people and sustainability. In particular, we argue that it is not merely the provision of transport or public and green space that matters, but the nuanced meaning of places and experiences as understood by local communities that needs to be recognised if we are to better support urban youth wellbeing and advance sustainable development goals.

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“…Along with information systems, affordance theory has been used in other research areas including: biomedical informatics, artificial intelligence, engineering design, information science and social psychology among others [29,30,31,32,33]. Gibson [34] proposed the school of thought known as ecological psychology where the concept of "affordance" or the "opportunity for action offered by the real world" is proposed.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Affordance theory and e-books: evaluating the e-reading experience using netnography

D’Ambra

Wilson

Akter

2017

Pers Ubiquit Comput

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E-books have changed the business of book publishing and the reading experience of the general public. Dedicated e-readers and other smart devices are integral to e-books offering affordances to overcome the physical limitations of print book and to provide the functionality of information technology. Using netnography, comments by online readers to articles in The New York Times and Scientific American were analysed and coded by themes identified in the literature of e-books versus print books. An Affordance Theory approach was used to provide insights into the readers' perceptions of real and actual affordances and the value delivered by these affordances. Comments by online readers of two diverse datasets confirm results found in questionnaires and surveys reported in the academic literature. It is the physical attributes and functionality of smart devices used in e-reading that provides the opportunity of affordance. Our study provides support for an affordance perspective of e-books and e-readers. It also highlights preferences for e-books and/or print books in various contexts. To our knowledge it is the first to consider e-readers as an IT artefact providing information processing capabilities. Abstract E-books have changed the business of book publishing and the reading experience of the general public. Dedicated e-readers and other smart devices are integral to e-books offering affordances to overcome the physical limitations of print book and to provide the functionality of information technology. Using netnography, comments by online readers to articles in The New York Times and Scientific American were analysed and coded by themes identified in the literature of e-books versus print books. An Affordance Theory approach was used to provide insights into the readers' perceptions of real and actual affordances and the value delivered by these affordances. Comments by online readers of two diverse datasets confirm results found in questionnaires and surveys reported in the academic literature. It is the physical attributes and functionality of smart devices used in e-reading that provides the opportunity of affordance. Our study provides support for an affordance perspective of ebooks and e-readers. It also highlights preferences for e-books and/or print books in various contexts. To our knowledge it is the first to consider e-readers as an IT artefact providing information processing capabilities. Affordance Theory and E-Books: Evaluating the E-reading Experience Using Netnography

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Historicizing affordance theory: A rendezvous between ecological psychology and cultural-historical activity theory

Cited by 38 publications

References 22 publications

Ecological psychology as social psychology?

Ecological psychology as social psychology?

Young people and environmental affordances in urban sustainable development: insights into transport and green and public space in seven cities

Affordance theory and e-books: evaluating the e-reading experience using netnography

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