Perception and Action

Abstract

Abstract Cognition would be maladaptive, energy consuming, and wasteful if not for the processes of perception and action to sense the surrounding world and act within it. Yet, the importance of perception and action for understanding cognition is much debated. This chapter outlines a variety of ways that perception, action, and cognition are not independent processes merely feeding information from one to the other, but intertwined and functionally connected. The consequences of this functional connection are seen in a variety of phenomena. We start with the dependency of the visual system on action and then describe Gibson’s ecological approach to psychology, including the role of action in perceiving and the perception of affordances. We then cover how perception of others’ actions and its impact on one’s own cognition and movements. We finish with the action-specific approach to perception. Perception and action influence each other, and these influences have consequences for social cognition.