Rob Withagen
Biographic Data
| ID | 2499732 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Rob Withagen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Rob |
| FAMILY NAME | Withagen |
| SIGNATURE | WITHAGEN R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Department of Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5060-2451 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
On Response-Ability in a Time of Ecological Collapse
Conceptualizing the Environment in a Time of Ecological Collapse
We live in troubling times. Amongst global political instability, rising economic inequality and a rapacious Western consumerist lifestyle, we face the impending risks of global warming and ecological collapse. In this short opinion paper, we bring this topic to the agenda of ecological psychology in the hope of stimulating fruitful conversation. To do so, we ask how ecological psychologists should conceptualize the environment in these precariou…
The Gibsonian movement and Koffka’s Principles of Gestalt Psychology
In recent decades, several ecologically inclined authors have adopted the Gestalt idea of demand characters. Yet, James Gibson, the founder of the ecological approach, although being inspired by Koffka, was critical of many of his ideas, including the contention that the environment calls for certain actions. This article examines why Gibson was so reluctant to accept this concept of demand characters. To that end, the relationship between Gibson…
Attractive Stepping Stones Landscapes: Preference for Stone Height Variation Appears to Be Age Independent
An earlier study on the attractiveness of stepping stones configurations revealed that children like variation in stone height better than variation in stone size or gap width. In the present study, we conducted two experiments to examine whether this preference is found also in young and older adults. In Experiment 1, participants stepped freely in a standardized configuration, and three configurations with either height, size or gap width varia…
The Field of Invitations
In my recent book Affective Gibsonian Psychology (2022), I made a relatively sharp distinction between affordances and invitations. I argued that to understand (some of) our behavior, we need to distinguish between the two. In the present paper, I develop the argument for this distinction a little further. It is argued that the concept of affordances aids in capturing the ecological values in the animals’ environments. This helps one to determine…
Height, Size, and/or Gap Width Variation in Jumping Stone Configurations: Which Form of Variation Attracts Children the Most
Earlier studies revealed that children prefer nonstandardized jumping stone configurations to standardized ones. In the present study, we examined whether children playing on jumping stones prefer variation in stone height, stone size, and/or gap width. In Experiment 1, children could play freely on one standardized configuration and three configurations in which one of the aforementioned factors was varied. It was found that children judged the …
The degree to which traditional play equipment, Parkour play elements, and Aldo van Eyck’s play sculptures have an open function
The concept of open functions was introduced to capture an intended feature of van Eyck’s seminal play sculptures – they do not suggest a specific action. In a recent study, Van der Schaaf, A. L., S. R. Caljouw, and R. Withagen. (2020. “Are Children Attracted to Play Elements with an Open Function?” Ecological Psychology 32: 79–94) aimed to determine the degree of openness of Parkour play elements by asking participants what behavior children wil…
Are Children Attracted to Play Elements with an Open Function
The present study aimed to determine the degree to which play elements have an “open function”, and whether children are attracted to them. The architect van Eyck hypothesized that play elements with an open function attract playing children because such elements do not suggest a certain type of behavior and are, thus, likely to stimulate the children’s creativity. Children of three different age groups (5-6, 7-8, and 11-12 years of age) played f…
What Should A “Gibsonian Neuroscience” Look Like? Introduction to the Special Issue
Ecological psychology has been criticized for ignoring the brain in its theory formation. In recent years, however, a number of researchers have started asking ecologically-inspired questions about the ways in which not only the embodied activity of the organism in its environment, but also the particulars of the organism's nervous system matter. This work has typically appeared in neuroscience journals, thereby potentially escaping the attention…
On the Education About/of Radical Embodied Cognition
In mainstream or strong university education, the teacher selects and transmits knowledge and skills that students are to acquire and reproduce. Many researchers of radical embodied cognitive science still adhere to this way of teaching, even though this prescriptive pedagogy deeply contrasts with the theoretical underpinnings of their science. In this paper, we search for alternative ways of teaching that are more aligned with the central non-pr…
An ecological approach to creativity in making
Temporalizing agency: Moving beyond on- and offline cognition
In this article we reconsider the relation between time and agency that is at the heart of the current distinction between online and offline cognition. Mainstream psychology starts out with an abstract notion of time, in which only the current moment is real. Therefore persisting representations are necessary for agents to make their way across time. We take Gibson and Heidegger to offer a different account of the relation between time and agenc…
Gibsonian neuroscience
The horizontal worldview: A Wittgensteinian attitude towards scientific psychology
Many scientific psychologists (implicitly) adopt a vertical worldview. This worldview assumes a layered supervening ontology and thereby invites a reductionist stance on explanation. In the present article we direct attention to an alternative attitude towards reality, the horizontal worldview. We draw on Wittgenstein as an example of this alternative attitude. In his later writings Wittgenstein showed his readers how to resist the urge to derive…
Affordances can invite behavior: Reconsidering the relationship between affordances and agency
The Role of Affordances in the Evolutionary Process Reconsidered: A Niche Construction Perspective
Gibson asserted that affordances are the primary objects of perception. Although this assertion is especially attractive when considered in the context of evolutionary theory, the role that affordances play in the evolution of animals’ perceptual and action systems is still unclear. Trying to combine the insights of both Gibson and Darwin, Reed developed a selectionist view in which affordances are conceived as resources that exert selection pres…
Naturalizing Perception: Developing the Gibsonian Approach to Perception along Evolutionary Lines
We believe that one of the most important aspects of Gibson's ecological psychology is his attempted naturalization of perception, that is, his attempt to place perception in the context of evolutionary theory. However, the dominant neo-Gibsonian approach to perception has been criticized for being inconsistent with evolutionary theory. We argue that a central tenet of this approach indeed runs counter to evolutionary considerations. Based on an …
Transfer of Calibration Between Length and Sweet-Spot Perception by Dynamic Touch
Calibration is the process that scales perceptual judgment or action to information. An earlier study (Withagen & Michaels, 2004 Withagen, R. and Michaels, C. F. 2004. Transfer of calibration in length perception by dynamic touch. Perception & Psychophysics, 66: 1282–1292. [Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar]) suggested that perceptual calibration is specific to information-to-perception relations. In the present experiments, the authors teste…
On Ecological Conceptualizations of Perceptual Systems and Action Systems
This article examines Gibson’s concept of perceptual system and Reed’s concept of action system. After discussing several assumptions underlying these concepts, the ontological status of these systems is considered. It is argued that perceptual systems and action systems should be conceptualized neither as parts of an animal’s body nor as softly (temporarily) assembled devices; rather, they are best understood as animals’ abilities to achieve fun…
The Pickup of Nonspecifying Variables Does Not Entail Indirect Perception
A number of recent empirical studies revealed the pickup of nonspecifying variables. This raises the question of whether perception is sometimes indirect. In this article this question is addressed and answered in the negative. First, it is argued that empirical studies are likely to reveal that animals also rely on nonspecifying variables. Probably not every meaningful environmental property is specified by an informational variable. Furthermore…
The Calibration of Walking Transfers to Crawling: Are Action Systems Calibrated
Calibration is needed to scale actions appropriately. Earlier studies suggested that calibration transfers to actions that serve the same goal This experiment further tested this functional hypothesis by asking whether the calibration of walking transfers to crawling. To recalibrate walking, participants walked on a treadmill for 15 min in a virtual environment in which the visual speed was faster than, equal to, or slower than the walking speed.…
Information, Perception, and Action: A Reply to Commentators
In response to Milner and Goodale's (1995) interpretations of the dorsal and ventral streams and to empirical results on punching of falling balls, Michaels (2000) argued for the acceptance of a certain separation of perception and action. Awareness of properties of the environment, which are important for telling, was tentatively separated from the visual guidance of coordinated movement. Her article was followed by a number of stimulating comme…
An ecological approach to creativity in making
On the Education About/of Radical Embodied Cognition
In mainstream or strong university education, the teacher selects and transmits knowledge and skills that students are to acquire and reproduce. Many researchers of radical embodied cognitive science still adhere to this way of teaching, even though this prescriptive pedagogy deeply contrasts with the theoretical underpinnings of their science. In this paper, we search for alternative ways of teaching that are more aligned with the central non-pr…
Information, Perception, and Action: A Reply to Commentators
In response to Milner and Goodale's (1995) interpretations of the dorsal and ventral streams and to empirical results on punching of falling balls, Michaels (2000) argued for the acceptance of a certain separation of perception and action. Awareness of properties of the environment, which are important for telling, was tentatively separated from the visual guidance of coordinated movement. Her article was followed by a number of stimulating comme…
The Calibration of Walking Transfers to Crawling: Are Action Systems Calibrated
Calibration is needed to scale actions appropriately. Earlier studies suggested that calibration transfers to actions that serve the same goal This experiment further tested this functional hypothesis by asking whether the calibration of walking transfers to crawling. To recalibrate walking, participants walked on a treadmill for 15 min in a virtual environment in which the visual speed was faster than, equal to, or slower than the walking speed.…
The Pickup of Nonspecifying Variables Does Not Entail Indirect Perception
A number of recent empirical studies revealed the pickup of nonspecifying variables. This raises the question of whether perception is sometimes indirect. In this article this question is addressed and answered in the negative. First, it is argued that empirical studies are likely to reveal that animals also rely on nonspecifying variables. Probably not every meaningful environmental property is specified by an informational variable. Furthermore…
On Ecological Conceptualizations of Perceptual Systems and Action Systems
This article examines Gibson’s concept of perceptual system and Reed’s concept of action system. After discussing several assumptions underlying these concepts, the ontological status of these systems is considered. It is argued that perceptual systems and action systems should be conceptualized neither as parts of an animal’s body nor as softly (temporarily) assembled devices; rather, they are best understood as animals’ abilities to achieve fun…
Transfer of Calibration Between Length and Sweet-Spot Perception by Dynamic Touch
Calibration is the process that scales perceptual judgment or action to information. An earlier study (Withagen & Michaels, 2004 Withagen, R. and Michaels, C. F. 2004. Transfer of calibration in length perception by dynamic touch. Perception & Psychophysics, 66: 1282–1292. [Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar]) suggested that perceptual calibration is specific to information-to-perception relations. In the present experiments, the authors teste…
Naturalizing Perception: Developing the Gibsonian Approach to Perception along Evolutionary Lines
We believe that one of the most important aspects of Gibson's ecological psychology is his attempted naturalization of perception, that is, his attempt to place perception in the context of evolutionary theory. However, the dominant neo-Gibsonian approach to perception has been criticized for being inconsistent with evolutionary theory. We argue that a central tenet of this approach indeed runs counter to evolutionary considerations. Based on an …
The Role of Affordances in the Evolutionary Process Reconsidered: A Niche Construction Perspective
Gibson asserted that affordances are the primary objects of perception. Although this assertion is especially attractive when considered in the context of evolutionary theory, the role that affordances play in the evolution of animals’ perceptual and action systems is still unclear. Trying to combine the insights of both Gibson and Darwin, Reed developed a selectionist view in which affordances are conceived as resources that exert selection pres…
Affordances can invite behavior: Reconsidering the relationship between affordances and agency
The horizontal worldview: A Wittgensteinian attitude towards scientific psychology
Many scientific psychologists (implicitly) adopt a vertical worldview. This worldview assumes a layered supervening ontology and thereby invites a reductionist stance on explanation. In the present article we direct attention to an alternative attitude towards reality, the horizontal worldview. We draw on Wittgenstein as an example of this alternative attitude. In his later writings Wittgenstein showed his readers how to resist the urge to derive…
Temporalizing agency: Moving beyond on- and offline cognition
In this article we reconsider the relation between time and agency that is at the heart of the current distinction between online and offline cognition. Mainstream psychology starts out with an abstract notion of time, in which only the current moment is real. Therefore persisting representations are necessary for agents to make their way across time. We take Gibson and Heidegger to offer a different account of the relation between time and agenc…
Gibsonian neuroscience
An ecological approach to creativity in making
What Should A “Gibsonian Neuroscience” Look Like? Introduction to the Special Issue
Ecological psychology has been criticized for ignoring the brain in its theory formation. In recent years, however, a number of researchers have started asking ecologically-inspired questions about the ways in which not only the embodied activity of the organism in its environment, but also the particulars of the organism's nervous system matter. This work has typically appeared in neuroscience journals, thereby potentially escaping the attention…
On the Education About/of Radical Embodied Cognition
In mainstream or strong university education, the teacher selects and transmits knowledge and skills that students are to acquire and reproduce. Many researchers of radical embodied cognitive science still adhere to this way of teaching, even though this prescriptive pedagogy deeply contrasts with the theoretical underpinnings of their science. In this paper, we search for alternative ways of teaching that are more aligned with the central non-pr…
Are Children Attracted to Play Elements with an Open Function
The present study aimed to determine the degree to which play elements have an “open function”, and whether children are attracted to them. The architect van Eyck hypothesized that play elements with an open function attract playing children because such elements do not suggest a certain type of behavior and are, thus, likely to stimulate the children’s creativity. Children of three different age groups (5-6, 7-8, and 11-12 years of age) played f…
The degree to which traditional play equipment, Parkour play elements, and Aldo van Eyck’s play sculptures have an open function
The concept of open functions was introduced to capture an intended feature of van Eyck’s seminal play sculptures – they do not suggest a specific action. In a recent study, Van der Schaaf, A. L., S. R. Caljouw, and R. Withagen. (2020. “Are Children Attracted to Play Elements with an Open Function?” Ecological Psychology 32: 79–94) aimed to determine the degree of openness of Parkour play elements by asking participants what behavior children wil…
Height, Size, and/or Gap Width Variation in Jumping Stone Configurations: Which Form of Variation Attracts Children the Most
Earlier studies revealed that children prefer nonstandardized jumping stone configurations to standardized ones. In the present study, we examined whether children playing on jumping stones prefer variation in stone height, stone size, and/or gap width. In Experiment 1, children could play freely on one standardized configuration and three configurations in which one of the aforementioned factors was varied. It was found that children judged the …
Attractive Stepping Stones Landscapes: Preference for Stone Height Variation Appears to Be Age Independent
An earlier study on the attractiveness of stepping stones configurations revealed that children like variation in stone height better than variation in stone size or gap width. In the present study, we conducted two experiments to examine whether this preference is found also in young and older adults. In Experiment 1, participants stepped freely in a standardized configuration, and three configurations with either height, size or gap width varia…
The Field of Invitations
In my recent book Affective Gibsonian Psychology (2022), I made a relatively sharp distinction between affordances and invitations. I argued that to understand (some of) our behavior, we need to distinguish between the two. In the present paper, I develop the argument for this distinction a little further. It is argued that the concept of affordances aids in capturing the ecological values in the animals’ environments. This helps one to determine…
The Gibsonian movement and Koffka’s Principles of Gestalt Psychology
In recent decades, several ecologically inclined authors have adopted the Gestalt idea of demand characters. Yet, James Gibson, the founder of the ecological approach, although being inspired by Koffka, was critical of many of his ideas, including the contention that the environment calls for certain actions. This article examines why Gibson was so reluctant to accept this concept of demand characters. To that end, the relationship between Gibson…
Conceptualizing the Environment in a Time of Ecological Collapse
We live in troubling times. Amongst global political instability, rising economic inequality and a rapacious Western consumerist lifestyle, we face the impending risks of global warming and ecological collapse. In this short opinion paper, we bring this topic to the agenda of ecological psychology in the hope of stimulating fruitful conversation. To do so, we ask how ecological psychologists should conceptualize the environment in these precariou…
On Response-Ability in a Time of Ecological Collapse
Psychology (18 works) · Cognitive psychology (13 works) · Computer Science (13 works) · Embodied and Extended Cognition (11 works) · Epistemology (11 works) · Artificial Intelligence (9 works) · Cognitive science (9 works) · Perception (9 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Philosophy (7 works)