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An ecological analysis of knowing by wielding
M T Turvey1, H Y Solomon, G Burton
1Center for the Ecological Study of Perception and Action, University of Connecticut, Storrs 06269-1020.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|November 1, 1989
Summary
This study explores the ecological approach to perception, revealing how haptic information from wielding objects allows us to perceive their properties like shape and size.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Ecological Psychology
Background:
- James Gibson's ecological approach to perception emphasizes direct perception and information pickup.
- The haptic perceptual system plays a crucial role in understanding object properties through touch and manipulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To apply the ecological approach to perception to the haptic system.
- To investigate how individuals perceive object properties (extent, orientation, shape, fractional components) of hand-held objects through wielding.
Main Methods:
- Review of four experimental studies involving subjects wielding unseen hand-held objects.
- Identification of invariant information within rotational moments and strains produced during wielding.
Main Results:
- Specific invariants were identified for object properties such as extent, orientation, and shape.
- The findings support the ecological approach's concepts of attention and information pickup.
Conclusions:
- The haptic perceptual system directly picks up invariant information about object properties.
- This research reinforces the ecological approach's framework for understanding perception as active information gathering.