“Perceiving the Affordances” Book Review

Eleanor Gibson’s autobiography/James Gibson biography is a slim, fascinating book.

I don’t remember how I learned of this book’s existence a few months ago—all I recall was my eagerness to get a copy and read it. Two things pretty evenly spurred my interest: my mentor in graduate school was an ecological psychologist, so I wanted to learn more about how James Gibson rejected most of experimental psychology’s dogma and developed his theory; and I was interested in Eleanor’s¹ role in his work as well as her own substantial contributions to the field. Published in 2002—the year she died—it’s as comprehensive as could be.

In the preface, Eleanor establishes her goal for Perceiving the Affordances: A Portrait of Two Psychologists:

My purpose in the following pages is to tell the story of a couple of scientists married to one another and working in much the same field. I want to show that it is possible to raise a family and do one’s job (pretty well, in our case) without sacrificing one’s independence. Yes, there were what some would consider sacrifices … , but with plenty of love, family support, and imagination it can turn out to be far more interesting than sticking to that safe spot. My husband and I both loved intellectual adventure, and it led to frequent travel, new friends, well-educated children, and most important, some new insights in science.

….

My text is a mixture of personal history, anecdotes, and intellectual autobiography. I aimed for the intellectual autobiography, because I feel strongly that my husband’s intellectual progression from the sensory-based, associative theory of perception (1929) to an ecologically oriented theory of perception (1979) all his own creation, needed to be put in a life setting, related as a story, and his persistent motivation shown. I also wanted to relate how I found a field of my own, perceptual learning, that eventually matured into an ecologically oriented theory of perceptual development including perceptual learning as an essential process. (pp. vii–viii)

Perceiving the Affordances is a good blend of the three. It gives a sense of intimacy without being too revealing. In particular, Eleanor drily provides sufficient detail to make clear the rampant sexism she faced through much of her career, and how that and nepotism concerns constricted her choices. Based on my limited experience in academia and what I know of friends’ careers, the situation has improved significantly overall, but when one gets to particulars, it can still be quite difficult for partners who work in the same field to find a place where both can shine.²

I was disappointed at the lack of substance in recounting how James’ thinking developed over his career. They met by chance while he was an assistant professor at Smith College, where she was an undergraduate; she recounts that the day after this meeting, she “rushed to the dean’s office and changed my fall schedule to include Professor James Gibson’s course in advanced experimental psychology” (p.17). So Eleanor was present for most of James’ intellectual explorations that transformed him from thinking about the role of retinal images to becoming a radical empiricist and realist. Yet the reader gets very little sense of how that happened, primarily because Eleanor chooses to quote her husband’s writing on the subject.

I appreciate and respect her intention here. The problem is that this primary source is a short autobiography that James wrote in 1967—just one year after his important book, The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems, was published. It represents vital progress in James’ thinking as it foreshadows his ecological theory of perceiving and acting, but it’s only a stop on his journey. Perhaps James’ health problems contributed to the lack of documentation of those important years between 1966 and 1979, when The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception was published and he died in December.

I suspect that family and friends whom Eleanor gave drafts of her manuscript to read may have steered her away from getting too deeply into the weeds of his and her own work. If accurate, that’s unfortunate, as academic psychologists and others who know of the Gibsons’ legacies are the primary audience for Perceiving the Affordances. As lovely as the book is, it’s too light on the subject matter that brings them to it.

Copies of the book are offered at high prices, probably due to scarcity. My copy is secondhand, and I was delighted to discover that its previous owner had made some notes in it. What little I can decipher (the writer may have had a tremor) suggests that they were familiar with at least one of the Gibsons prior to reading it. It’s tenuous and silly, but it makes me feel a little more connected to the ecological family (of which I count myself a member, albeit a mostly silent and completely unknown one). Those who feel similarly may judge the cost worth owning a copy. For anyone else, investing time into researching both of the Gibsons online may be more fruitful, especially if one’s interests lie in their academic work and how it’s been carried forward in the work of their students. I wouldn’t be surprised if electronic versions of Perceiving the Affordances can be accessed free online.

I very much enjoyed and valued the time I used reading Eleanor’s memoir. It offers an intimate and fascinating look into an important period in psychology’s history, as well as her own and James’ professional and personal lives. It is well written and includes several photographs that enhance her narrative. Those who aren’t interested in deeper intellectual exposition from Perceiving the Affordances: A Portrait of Two Psychologists will likely also find it very enjoyable.

1: I’m using first names only for the sake of clarity and concision. (back to the paragraph)

2: This observation is based on my external perspective; I’ve never asked anyone about the details of how they balance their marriage and careers. It’s possible that the partner who has a less visible role is as fulfilled there as the one who gets more publications, promotions, etc. (back to the paragraph)