Information Is Where You Find It: Perception as an Ecologically Well-Posed Problem

Abstract

Texts on visual perception typically begin with the following premise: Vision is an ill-posed problem, and perception is underdetermined by the available information. If this were really the case, however, it is hard to see how vision could ever get off the ground. James Gibson’s signal contribution was his hypothesis that for every perceivable property of the environment, however subtle, there must be a higher order variable of information, however complex, that specifies it—if only we are clever enough to find them. Such variables are informative about behaviorally relevant properties within the physical and ecological constraints of a species’ niche. Sensory ecology is replete with instructive examples, including weakly electric fish, the narwal’s tusk, and insect flight control. In particular, I elaborate the case of passing through gaps. Optic flow is sufficient to control locomotion around obstacles and through openings. The affordances of the environment, such as gap passability, are specified by action-scaled information. Logically ill-posed problems may thus, on closer inspection, be ecologically well-posed.

J. J. Gibson’s “Ground Theory of Space Perception”

“… 6 Gibson’s Research Report notably also introduced optical flow fields as a critical component of his theory, but that aspect of his work is not covered here; it is discussed in detail elsewhere in this special issue (Rogers, 2021; Warren, 2021). Gibson’s concept of texture was always about natural textures, with all their variety, but he lacked the tools with which to study them; recent advances in studying the perception of natural materials are also discussed in this special issue (Todd, 2020).…”

Perceiving relations directly: An invitation

“…• "Perceiving is an achievement of the individual, not an appearance in the theater of his consciousness. It is a keeping-in-touch with the world, an experiencing of things rather than a having of experiences" [5].…”

“…Directly perceiving is a matter of detecting and differentiating what's significant rather than constructing or inferring meaning through processing and interpreting sensory inputs. Perception, so conceived, is no longer an ill-posed problem [5], requiring prior knowledge and complex interpretation of sensory representations. See Box 1.…”

Optic Flow: A History

“…Optic flow has several functions for behaving observers (see, e.g., Lee, 1980 ). For instance, observers can perceive their direction of self-motion from optic flow ( Gibson, 1947 , 1950 ; Warren, 1976 ; Warren et al, 1988 ; see Warren, 2008 for a review), and optic flow provides visual guidance for many actions ( Warren, 1998 , 2021 ) such as steering to a target ( Calvert, 1954 ; Gibson, 1958 ; Warren et al, 2001 ), balance and posture control ( Lee & Aronson, 1974 ; Stoffregen, 1985 ) and avoiding or achieving collisions ( Fajen, 2008 ; Lee, 1976 ). Optic flow furthermore plays an important role in the perception of the shape of objects and the layout of the environment ( Koenderink, 1986 ; Rogers, 2021 ; Todd, 1995).…”