[Xmca-l] Re: mediate perception and direct perception

[Greg Thompson]

Does "mediation" only apply to language and culture?

Or does it include nerve fibers? (in which case we would need to include
reflexes)

And does it include our socio-contextual surround as in Bateson's man with
the stick? (in which case, we would need to include newborns).

Just wonderin'.

-greg


On Sat, Sep 13, 2014 at 2:48 PM, David H Kirshner <dkirsh@lsu.edu> wrote:

> Thanks for replies.
> I'm recalling several years ago Jim Greeno decided to stop talking about
> situated cognition because the pragmatics of adjectival use implies there
> has to be a contrasting non-situated cognition. He now speaks of
> situativity theory. It seems, with the exception of physical reflexes (and
> perhaps pre-conscious infant activity), all human action is mediated (and
> perhaps a lot of non-human action, as well). So, it's worth noting that
> "mediated action" doesn't specify a kind of action, but rather a
> theoretical assumption about all human action; though there seems to be
> some variation in interpretation of what that assumption entails.
> David
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:
> xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Rod Parker-Rees
> Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2014 12:51 PM
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: mediate perception and direct perception
>
> Many thanks for this Michael but I would (humbly) want to take issue with
> Gibson's apparent assumption here, that children attribute meaning or
> information to words, images etc. as context-independent 'objects'. I was
> particularly interested in Shotter's emphasis on 'withness thinking'
> because I had come to the conclusion that babies' first awareness is of
> their interactions (with people and with whatever they can get hold of in
> their environment) rather than of people or things as objects. This also
> fitted well with Vasu Reddy's distinction between the 'third person
> perspective' adopted in many developmental psychology studies and the
> 'second person perspective' which is characteristic of social interactions
> (especially the more playful, 'full-on' kind). Gibson wants to use
> 'mediated perception' to refer only to representations but I think we also
> need to acknowledge the role of mediation in giving meaning to attention
> itself (the sharing of meaning that is afforded by shared attention). I am
> not convinced that babies simply or directly relate pictures of things (or
> 'names' of things) with context-free, ideal concepts of those things. I
> think it is much more likely that the association is with past (inter)
> actions WITH similar things, interactions which are heavily mediated by the
> values and meanings which others attach to the infant's actions. We 'soak
> up' intuitive or not consciously noticed information about other people's
> responses to our actions and this social information becomes part of the
> meaning of these actions.
>
> Rod
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-l-bounces+rod.parker-rees=plymouth.ac.uk@mailman.ucsd.edu
> [mailto:xmca-l-bounces+rod.parker-rees=plymouth.ac.uk@mailman.ucsd.edu]
> On Behalf Of Glassman, Michael
> Sent: 13 September 2014 18:20
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: [Xmca-l] mediate perception and direct perception
>
>
> Mike, David, whoever
>
> Tried to find the original message to respond to but this mail program has
> become too mediated.
>
> Here is a short essay by (speaking of) Gibson, I guess related to what I
> was saying,
>
> http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/ecopsyc/perils/folder3/mediated.html
>
> I wonder if it challenges Shotters idea.
>
> Michael
>
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-- 
Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
882 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson