Learned Affordances

Psychologist James J. Gibson introduced the term affordance in his 1977 chapter “The theory of affordances” and defined it as all action possibilities latent in the environment (Gibson, 1977). Based on Gestalt theories, affordance theory states that the world is perceived not only in terms of object shapes and spatial relationships but also in terms of the possibilities of objects for action.

Objects generally have affordability. The affordance of an object is what one can do with it. The affordance of a static door knob is something that one can hang things on. But the affordance of the door knob changes, if one sees a person turning the door knob. Now the affordance of the door knob is that it is something that turns. Seeing the person pull the door knob after turning it changes its affordances and that of the door. The closed door has limited affordance but once the door knob is pulled and the door is opened the door now provides a new kind of affordance. The door knob now allows...