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Situated anticipation
Ludger van Dijk1,2, Erik Rietveld2,3,4
1Department of Philosophy, Centre for Philosophical Psychology, University of Antwerp, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium.
Synthese
|February 15, 2021
Summary
This study presents a new process-based account of affordances, integrating long-term anticipation into cognitive science. It re-frames higher cognition as skilled engagement with unfolding situations and their action possibilities.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Ecological Psychology
- Phenomenology
Background:
- Long-term anticipation is often viewed as distinct from basic action responsiveness.
- Existing theories struggle to account for anticipation within a unified framework of perception-action.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a process-based account of affordances that encompasses long-term anticipation.
- To re-conceptualize 'higher' cognition as engagement with unfolding affordances.
Main Methods:
- Developing a theoretical framework for affordances as unfolding processes.
- Analyzing architectural practice as a case study for long-term anticipation.
Main Results:
- Affordances are presented as invitations to act within a continuing history of practices.
- Anticipation is understood as attunement to the direction of unfolding situations.
Conclusions:
- The proposed process account integrates basic and long-term anticipation.
- This framework offers a new perspective on various human activities traditionally deemed 'higher' cognition.
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