1st Edition

Perceiving the Affordances A Portrait of Two Psychologists

By Eleanor J. Gibson Copyright 2002
    156 Pages
    by Psychology Press

    154 Pages
    by Psychology Press

    Perceiving the Affordances is a personal history and intellectual autobiography of Eleanor Gibson, the groundbreaking research psychologist who was influential in the founding of the theory of perceptual development. It is also a biography of her husband, James J. Gibson, who was a major perceptual theorist and the founder of the ecologically-oriented theory of perception. This is the story of their lives together and how each came to make particular contributions. This book is of interest to people who study perception, perceptual development, infancy, developmental psychology, and the history of psychology.

    Contents: Preface. Growing up in the Heartland. Becoming Psychologists. Teaching and Life at Smith College. World War II. Back to Civilization (Academic Style). High Above Cayuga's Waters. Visiting in Academe. Midlife Without Crises. The Decade of the Books. The Seer of Ithaca. Going It Alone. Life After the Lab.

    Biography

    Eleanor J. Gibson

    "This is a matter-of-fact, yet touching book. It is a no-nonsense autobiography of Eleanor Jack (Jackie) Gibson (1910-2002), a biography of her husband, James (1904-1979), and a romance, tough in its love for psychology, affectionate toward colleagues, students, and friends, and almost storybook in relating the life of an academic couple."
    Journal of History of the Behavioral Sciences