Abstract

Ecological perceptual research focuses on stimulus array invariants as information that might guide organismic (particularly human) actions. Constructed by human agency, built environments entail structural regularities (e.g., planarity, verticality, horizontality, orthogonality) that constrain stimulus array information; here the emphasis is optical information (invariants). Built environments involve barriers that restrict behavior; doors allow passage through such barriers. Doors (more generally, swinging panels) yield surprisingly many instances of optical information. Specifically, invariants exist for (a) panel collision and bypass, (b) the panel’s axis of rotation, (c) the horizon line, and (d) the panel’s frontal-parallel orientation. Affordances are associated with each of those. Invariants described exemplify meta-invariant patterns (i.e., similarities in invariant stimulus array structure that occur across disparate environmental objects and events); meta-invariants may serve as research heuristics for the discovery of invariants in delimited contexts. Empirical considerations for optical invariants identified are described. Derivations described may be helpful for teaching the concept of invariants from stimulus array transformations, as well.

摘要

生态感知研究的重点是刺激阵列不变性，作为可能指导机体（尤其是人类）行为的信息。由人类机构建造的建筑环境必须具有结构规则性（例如，平面性，垂直性，水平性，正交性），以约束刺激阵列信息。这里重点是光学信息（不变式）。建筑环境涉及限制行为的障碍。门允许穿过这些障碍物。门（更一般而言，旋转面板）令人惊讶地产生了许多光学信息。具体而言，对于（a）面板碰撞和旁路，（b）面板旋转轴，（c）视界线和（d）面板的正面平行方向存在不变性。充裕度与每个相关联。所描述的不变量举例说明了元不变模式（即 ，在不同的环境对象和事件之间发生的不变刺激阵列结构的相似性）；元不变式可以作为研究启发法，用于在划定的上下文中发现不变式。描述了确定的光学不变量的经验考量。所描述的推导也可能有助于从激励阵列变换中教导不变式的概念。