First published in 1982, this is a collection of the most important of James J. Gibson’s essays on the psychology of perception. The editors have selected over 30 works dealing with topics as ecological optics, event perception, pictorial representation, and the conceptual foundations of psychology.

Foreword Eleanor J. Gibson. Acknowledgements. General Introduction Edward Reed and Rebecca Jones. James J. Gibson: Autobiography. Part 1: Foundations of Ecological Optics Edward Reed and Rebecca Jones. 1.1 Perception and Judgement of Aerial Space and Distance as Potential Factors in Pilot Selection and Training 1.2 Optical Motions and Transformations as Stimuli for Visual Perception 1.3 The Information Contained in Light 1.4 Ecological Optics 1.5 On Theories for Visual Space Perception 1.6 A History of the Ideas Behind Ecological Optics: Introductory Remarks at the Workshop on Ecological Optics 1.7 On the Analysis of Change in the Optic Array 1.8 What is Involved in Surface Perception? Part 2: Movement and Motion: The Perception of Action and Events Edward Reed and Rebecca Jones 2.1 A Theoretical Field-Analysis of Automobile-Driving 2.2 The Ability to Judge Distance and Space in Terms of the Retinal Motion Cue 2.3 Visually Controlled Locomotion and Visual Orientation in Animals 2.4 The Uses of Proprioception and the Detection of Propriospecific Information 2.5 The Problem of Temporal Order in Stimulation and Perception 2.6 What Gives Rise to the Perception of Motion? 2.7 The Change from Visible to Invisible: A Study of Optical Transitions 2.8 The Problem of Event Perception 2.9 Ecological Physics, Magic, and Reality Part 3: The Perception of Pictures Edward Reed and Rebecca Jones 3.1 Pictures as Substitutes for Visual Realities 3.2 A Theory of Pictorial Perception 3.3 Pictures, Perspective, and Perception 3.4 The Information Available in Pictures 3.5 On the Concept of "Formless Invariants" in Visual Perception 3.6 Notes on Direct Perception and Indirect Apprehension Part 4: Implications of Ecological Realism Edward Reed and Rebecca Jones 4.1 What is a Form? 4.2 Perceptual Learning: Differentiation or Enrichment? 4.3 The Concept of the Stimulus in Psychology 4.4 The Useful Dimensions of Sensitivity 4.5 New Reasons for Realism 4.6 Notes on Action 4.7 On the New Idea of Persistence and Change and the Old Ideas that it Drives Out 4.8 The Myth of Passive Perception: A Reply to Richards 4.9 Notes on Affordances. References. Complete Bibliography of James J. Gibson. Author Index. Subject Index.