cas/definition.php (people or term)
Diagram: Affordances

Affordances

The notion of 'Affordances' was developed by James Gibson. It has many strong similarities to the concept of 'phase space'.

Relates to how Landscape Urbanism positions complexity thinking


“Affordance” is a term coined by psychologist JJ Gibson to describe how objects or environments can invite multiple kinds of appropriations that align or resonate with different user needs or requirements (Gibson, 1986). Gibson considers objects to hold certain ‘properties or qualities’, that include ‘color, texture, composition, size, shape and features of shape, mass, elasticity, rigidity, and mobility.’ (1986: 134).  But beyond these, he argues that specific objects or environments have what he terms “affordances”:  ones that ‘invite’ specific interactions or behaviors. Thus, a cup ‘affords’ or ‘invites’ grasping.

The choice of how an afforded state manifests is, however, contingent upon the kinds of  relationships activated in a given situation. Accordingly, while a cup possesses the physical property of a handle, this feature enters into a distinct relationship when another agent (in the form of a person’s hand), encounters it. The shape of the handle and the shape of the hand hold a resonance with one another, such that the handle may be thought of as ‘inviting’ or 'cueing' the hand for a given action: grasping. Other, non-human entities might enter into different relationships with the cup’s handle, each according to their needs. Thus, for an Ant the handle might not afford grasping, but instead crawling. Further, while a wide range of objects might be capable of being ‘grasped’– the blade end of a knife, for example - such grasping is neither invited nor afforded. The distinction is thus in terms of the extent to which a given object offers ‘cues’ or ‘prompts’ in ways that can be seen as invitations. For Gibson, physical environments are thus conceived of as niches that invite actions suitable for different living entities, who then ‘draw forth’ affordances seen as relevant. Different environments thereby ‘provide or furnish’ something with which to achieve a given goal (Gibson, 1986: 129). 

Affordances and Phase Space share common features. Each position material entities as holding capacities that are virtual and contingent -  activated and manifested only under particular circumstances that draw them forth.  Affordances are never completely open, never entirely plastic – similar to phase space, they offer meaningful constraints to what can and cannot occur - what the action possibilities are in a given context.  The way in which these action possibilities come to actualize or manifest, is subject to the contingent forces that are presented.

See Also: Erik & Ronald Rietveld



 


Cite this page:

Wohl, S. (2022, 7 June). Affordances. Retrieved from https://kapalicarsi.wittmeyer.io/definition/affordances

Affordances was updated June 7th, 2022.

Nothing over here yet

In Depth: Affordances

This is the feed, a series of related links and resources. Add a link to the feed →

The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception

Chapter 8 of this book deals with the theory of affordances.

This is a list of People that Affordances is related to.

New Materialism | Deleuze

Content coming soon! Learn more →

This is a list of Terms that Affordances is related to.

Phase space is an abstract concept that refers to all possible behaviors available to an agent within a complex system.

Related to {{degrees-of-freedom}}. Learn more →

This is a collection of books, websites, and videos related to Affordances

This is a list of Urban Fields that Affordances is related to.

Landscape Urbanists are interested in adaptation, processes, and flows: with their work often drawing from the lexicon of complexity sciences.

A large body of contemporary landscape design thinking tries to understand how designs can be less about making things, and more about stewarding processes that create a 'fit' between the intervention and the context. Landscape Urbanists advancing these techniques draw concepts and vocabulary from complex adaptive systems theory.

Learn more →

This is a list of Key Concepts that Affordances is related to.

There would be some thought experiments here.

Navigating Complexity © 2015-2024 Sharon Wohl, all rights reserved. Developed by Sean Wittmeyer
Sign In (SSO) | Sign In


Test Data
Related (this page): Themes (34), LINKS (56), Landscape Urbanism (15), Iterations (56), 
Section: terms
Non-Linearity
Related (same section): 
Related (all): Urban Modeling (11, fields), Resilient Urbanism (14, fields), Relational Geography (19, fields), Landscape Urbanism (15, fields), Evolutionary Geography (12, fields), Communicative Planning (18, fields), Assemblage Geography (20, fields), Tipping Points (218, concepts), Path Dependency (93, concepts), Far From Equilibrium (212, concepts), 
Nested Orders
Related (same section): 
Related (all): Urban Modeling (11, fields), Urban Informalities (16, fields), Resilient Urbanism (14, fields), Self-Organized Criticality (64, concepts), Scale-Free (217, concepts), Power Laws (66, concepts), 
Emergence
Related (same section): 
Related (all): Urban Modeling (11, fields), Urban Informalities (16, fields), Urban Datascapes (28, fields), Incremental Urbanism (13, fields), Evolutionary Geography (12, fields), Communicative Planning (18, fields), Assemblage Geography (20, fields), Self-Organization (214, concepts), Fitness (59, concepts), Attractor States (72, concepts), 
Driving Flows
Related (same section): 
Related (all): Urban Datascapes (28, fields), Tactical Urbanism (17, fields), Relational Geography (19, fields), Parametric Urbanism (10, fields), Landscape Urbanism (15, fields), Evolutionary Geography (12, fields), Communicative Planning (18, fields), Assemblage Geography (20, fields), Open / Dissipative (84, concepts), Networks (75, concepts), Information (73, concepts), 
Bottom-up Agents
Related (same section): 
Related (all): Urban Modeling (11, fields), Urban Informalities (16, fields), Resilient Urbanism (14, fields), Parametric Urbanism (10, fields), Incremental Urbanism (13, fields), Evolutionary Geography (12, fields), Communicative Planning (18, fields), Rules (213, concepts), Iterations (56, concepts), 
Adaptive Capacity
Related (same section): 
Related (all): Urban Modeling (11, fields), Urban Informalities (16, fields), Tactical Urbanism (17, fields), Parametric Urbanism (10, fields), Landscape Urbanism (15, fields), Incremental Urbanism (13, fields), Evolutionary Geography (12, fields), Feedback (88, concepts), Degrees of Freedom (78, concepts),