Investigation of causal processes in the ecological approach to perception

Abstract

According to assumptions of the Gibsonian Ecological Philosophy (GIBSON, 1976), organisms directly capture information from the environment to carry out their actions. Such information corresponds to affordances, which are possibilities for action that emerge from reciprocal organism-environment relationships. Perception is intrinsically related to action and both are articulated and constitute a dynamic and complex system. In this context, this article will be based on the investigation of the following problems: Does dynamics of perception-action of affordances involve processes of causality? If so, what kind of processes would these be? We will defend the hypothesis, according to which affordance perception-action dynamics are constitutive of complex systems and involve circular causality processes. Thus, our objective will be to investigate the possible presence of causality processes involved in organism-environment relations with regard to the perception-action of affordances. For that, we will discuss the constitution of causal and informational relationships, outlining their congruent and divergent aspects. Finally, we will investigate the possible presence of processes of circular causality in dynamics of perception-action of affordances.