Abduction and Affordance: A Semiotic View of Cognition

The shortcomings of the dominant information processing models of cognition are outlined, and two alterative models derived from semiotics are presented. In addition, the possibility of incorporating J. J. Gibson's ecological theory of affordance within the semiotic models is explored as a means of addressing some criticism of the latter models. The semiotic models addressed are J. Deely's (1983, 1986) sensation-based Umwelt model and U. Eco's (1976, 1979, 1984) Model Q. The criticism that semiotic models lead to solipsism is dealt with through Gibson's rejection of perception as based solely on sensation. In his theory of visual perception, Gibson considers the environment to be the surfaces that separate substances from the medium in which animals live. But environments also "afford " things, such as shelter and locomotion. The processes of perceiving affordances and abduction, as described by Deely, allow semiotics to escape solipsism. Five figures are provided. (TJH) * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document.