Encountering the World: Toward an Ecological Psychology

by Edward S. Reed

Encountering the World reorients modern psychology by finding a viable middle ground between the study of nerve cells and cultural analysis. The emerging field of ecological psychology focuses on the "human niche" and our uniquely evolved modes of action and interaction. Rejecting both mechanistic cognitive science and reductionistic neuroscience, the author offers a new psychology that combines ecological and experimental methods to help us better understand the ways in which people and animals make their way through the world. The book provides a comprehensive treatment of ecological psychology and a unique synthesis of the work of Darwin, neural Darwinism, and modern ecologists with James Gibson's approach to perception. The author presents detailed discussions on communication, sociality, cognition, and language--topics often overlooked by ecological psychologists. Other issues covered include ecological approaches to animal behavior, neural mechanisms, perception, action,
and interaction. Provocative and controversial, Encountering the World makes a significant contribution to the debate over the nature of psychology.

Genres: Psychology, Neuroscience

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[F. A.R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edward Reed would probably be famous if he'd lived to see this century. He died just after publishing this book, the product of decades worth of labor, in which he presents a plan to save psychology from itself. Reed makes a case for ecological psychology, a high-level study of behavior that considers the interaction of agent and environment to be the fundamental unit of study. On his way to demonstrating the value of this paradigm (and the deep, profound problems in psychology as it stands!), he deals with most of the major issues one might want to discuss, from the mechanics of behavior through development and language. Reed's knowledge and command of primary research puts a faux scientist like Stephen Pinker to shame. I especially enjoyed the examples drawn from Charles Darwin's research: the implications of that man's work still haven't been completely unraveled. I recommend this book without qualification to anyone studying psychology.

[Daniel Martínez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of the best books on the ecological approach. Reed is awesome.