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Gibson's Theory of Perceptual Learning Gibson’s Theory of Perceptual Learning Karen E. Adolph Kari S. Kretch New York University This entry describes the key ideas of the influential psychologist Eleanor J. Gibson, developed over 70 years of research with infants, children, adults, and a wide range of nonhuman species. Gibson’s ecological approach to perceptual learning and development describes how perception—extracting meaningful information from the environment to guide actions adaptively—improves with experience, the acquisition of new means of exploration, and the development of new perception-action systems. Keywords: affordance; cognitive development; comparative psychology; developmental psychology; differentiation; ecological approach; exploratory activity; infancy; learning; perception; perception-action; perceptual learning; psychology Cross-references: Cognitive development during infancy and early childhood; Perceptual development during infancy and early childhood; Development of motor skills during infancy and early childhood; Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; Acquisition of reading skills during infancy and early childhood; Neonatal phase of human development; Infancy phase of human development; Early childhood phase of human development; middle childhood phase of human development; adolescent childhood phase of human development; Applications of laboratory observation in developmental psychology; Applications of experimental paradigms in developmental psychology; Play during infancy and early childhood; Learning theories and educational paradigms; Learning to learn; Cognitive development: Learning and instruction; Comparative evolutionary psychology; Human behavioral ecology; Learning to Perceive or Perceiving to Learn? failing to capture how infants learn to detect the perceptual information for guiding action adaptively as their percep- Eleanor Jack Gibson built her theory of perceptu- tual-motor systems are developing. In fact, she considered al learning over a 70-year research career. She published infancy to be the perfect place to study perceptual learning her first paper on perceptual learning in 1932 (J. J. Gibson, (E. J. Gibson, 1992) and she was instrumental in building Jack, & Raffel, 1932) and her last book in 2002 (E. J. Gib- the field of infant perception (Pick, 1992). son, 2002). There is a clear thread from beginning to end, On Gibson’s (1969) account, perceptual learning en- but she was not dogmatic in her ideas; her theories were tails an increased ability to extract relevant information always informed by data, and data collection was often in- from a stimulus array as the result of experience. The tra- spired by real life and serendipity. Her theory is consistent ditional view of perceptual learning, dating back to Bishop with but not identical to James Gibson’s (1979) ecological Berkeley in the 1700s, is that animals must learn to per- approach to perception. Although the Gibsons were mar- ceive; the information at sensory receptors is impoverished ried and shared many arguments and ideas about perceptual and meaningless and thus a complete percept requires learn- learning and development, they wrote only five articles to- ing. In Gibson’s view, the information at receptors is suffi- gether (E. J. Gibson, 2002). Thus, in this entry, “Gibson” cient to support complete percepts from the start, and thus refers to Eleanor Gibson unless otherwise noted. Gibson’s animals needn’t learn to perceive; rather, they perceive to 1969 book, Principles of Perceptual Learning and Devel- learn (E. J. Gibson, 1989, July). Perceptual learning is the opment, described her theory in detail and jump-started a key to knowledge and where it all begins. new field of inquiry. However, as new methods and findings Gibson (1992) maintained that a theory of perceptu- became available, notably new ways of studying perception al learning must answer basic questions: What is learned in young infants, Gibson questioned things that she had and what is the function? What instigates learning and what once taken for granted and broadened her domain of inqui- terminates the process? As for the question of mechanism, ry. In later writings, Gibson critiqued her 1969 account for Gibson held that meaningful explanations of psychologi- cal processes must be at the level of behavior. She always maintained that the job of a perception psychologist is to Contact: describe and explain perception at the level of individual Karen E. Adolph, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New behavior, not in terms of the underlying neurophysiology York NY 10003, [email protected] (E. J. Gibson & Pick, 2000). Perceptual processes should Kari S. Kretch, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New be consistent with what we know about neural mechanisms York NY 10003, [email protected] and physiology, but these facts should not drive research into perceptual processes. Rather, the appropriate research Perceptual Information program should begin with a consideration of what there is to be perceived in an ecological context—what animals The ecological approach differs from traditional the- need to perceive so as to act adaptively in the natural envi- ories of perception in the conceptualization of perceptual ronments in which they evolved and in the changing envi- information (E. J. Gibson & Pick, 2000). In the Gibsons’ ronments in which they develop. view, the ambient arrays of energy surrounding the observ- er—light, sound waves, patterns of pressure on tactile re- Starting Assumptions ceptors, and so on—are structured by the objects and sur- faces in the environment in ways that specify those objects Gibson’s theory grows out of her commitment to sev- and surfaces; thus, information arrives at sensory receptors eral related starting assumptions that guided her thoughts already richly imbued with structure. This structure is not about perceptual learning and shaped the trajectory of her carried in a static image; it is only apparent in relations that research career. She believed that J. J. Gibson’s (1966, emerge over transformations in space and time (movement 1979) ecological approach to perception is the proper of objects or the observer, edges, gradients, flow, etc.). starting place for a theory of perceptual learning and de- Structured arrays of energy contain the information through velopment (E. J. Gibson & Pick, 2000). Animals must be which perception of the self and environment occurs (E. J. considered doing the things that they naturally do in their Gibson, 1970). If you only consider rays of light or sound particular ecological niche. Their activities are guided by vibrations, specification is not possible. perceptual information and such information is available in The task for the perceiver is not to add structure to im- the ambient arrays of energy to which their perceptual sys- poverished sensory stimulation, but to detect the structure tems are sensitive. Because perception involves the whole that already exists. We do not perceive ambient energy ar- animal, nested in its environment, her approach was neces- rays and we do not perceive information. Rather, by detect- sarily a systems approach. The total system includes ani- ing information in ambient arrays, we perceive the things in mals in the environment that surrounds them in the here and the world that structured the information and that are speci- now and which has shaped them in the course of evolution fied by the information (E. J. Gibson & Spelke, 1983). and development, and which they in turn influence (E. J. Starting with this view of perceptual information, it Gibson, 1992). might seem as if the ecological approach is at odds with a Because of her focus on animals in their species-typi- theory of learning. If information is already structured to cal environments, hers was a comparative approach. In con- specify things in the world, what is there to learn? But Gib- trast to the traditional practice of focusing nearly exclusive- son did not see a tension between the two. The organism ly on humans and the chambered eye, she maintained that must learn through experience how to generate and detect perception psychologists should consider the perceptual the appropriate perceptual information. systems and actions of varied species as they build theories of perceptual learning and development in humans (E. J. Animal-Environment Reciprocity Gibson & Walk, 1960; Walk & Gibson, 1961). All animals Animals and their surrounding environment constitute have solved the problem of using perceptual information to an interactive system, with each constituent reciprocal to guide activity: houseflies with compound eyes, fish using the other (E. J. Gibson, 1997). Animals generate informa- electrolocation, bats using echolocation, and so on. Study- tion about the environment and must tailor their actions to ing such diversity of form and function will lead to general the environment. Reciprocally, the environment provides principles of perception and its development. Evolutionary the animal with “opportunities and resources for action” (E. and developmental pressures are integral to a comparative J. Gibson & Pick, 2000, p. 14) and with information that approach, and perceptual learning—like all behavior—can specifies those opportunities and resources. An animal fits only be understood in the context of development (E. J. into its ecological and developmental niche. The animal is Gibson, 1984b). Thus, her theory also begins with a devel- scaled to the environment, as the environment is scaled to opmental approach.
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