J. J. Gibson 989026 219424194 2008-06-15T04:14:07Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{Citations missing|date=December 2007}} '''James Jerome Gibson''' ([[January 27]] [[1904]]–[[December 11]] [[1979]]), was an [[United States|American]] [[psychologist]], considered one of the most important 20th century psychologists in the field of [[visual perception]]. In his classic work ''The Perception of the Visual World'' (1950) he rejected the fashionable [[behaviorism]] for a view based on his own experimental work, which pioneered the idea that animals 'sampled' information from the 'ambient' outside world. He also coined the term '[[affordance]]', meaning the interactive possibilities of a particular object or environment. This concept has been extremely influential in the field of [[design]] and [[ergonomics]]: see for example the work of [[Donald Norman]] who worked with Gibson, and has adapted many of his ideas for his own theories. {{Fact|date=December 2007}} In his later work (such as, for example, ''The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception'' (1979)), Gibson became more philosophical and criticised [[cognitivism]] in the same way he had attacked behaviorism before. Gibson argued strongly in favour of 'direct perception', or '[[direct realism]]' (as pioneered by the Scottish philosopher [[Thomas Reid]]), as opposed to cognitivist 'indirect realism'. He termed his new approach [[ecological psychology]]. He also rejected the [[information processing]] view of cognition. Gibson is increasingly influential on many contemporary movements in [[psychology]], particularly those considered to be [[post-cognitivist]].{{Fact|date=December 2007}} Gibson was married to fellow psychologist [[Eleanor Gibson]]. ==References== * Gibson, J.J. & Gibson, E. (1955). Perceptual learning: differentiation or enrichment? Psyc. Rev., 62, 32-41. * Gibson, J.J. (1950). The Perception of the Visual World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. * Gibson, J.J. (1966). The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0313239614 * Gibson, J.J. (1966). The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Introduction (pp. 1-6); "Chapter XIII: The Theory of Information Pickup" (pp. 266-286); "Chapter XIV: The Causes of Deficient Perception" (pp. 287-318). * Gibson, J.J. (1972). A theory of Direct Visual Perception. In J. Royce, W. Rozenboom (Eds.). The psychology of Knowing. New York: Gordon & Breach. * Gibson, J.J. (1977). The Theory of Affordances (pp. 67-82). In R. Shaw & J. Bransford (Eds.). Perceiving, Acting, and Knowing: Toward an Ecological Psychology. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. * Gibson, J.J. (1979). The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.ISBN 0898599598 (1986) * Gibson, J.J. (1982). Reasons for Realism: Selected essays of James J. Gibson, E. Reed & R. Jones (Eds.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. ==External links== * [http://huwi.org/gibson/index.php The purple Perils of J. J. Gibson] * [http://gombrich.co.uk/dispute.php The Gombrich/Gibson Dispute] {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, J. J.}} [[Category:1904 births]] [[Category:1979 deaths]] [[Category:Psychologists]] [[de:James J. Gibson]] [[fr:James J. Gibson]] [[it:James Gibson (psicologo)]] [[nl:James Gibson]] [[ja:ジェームズ・ギブソン]] [[zh:詹姆斯·吉布森]]