ABSTRACT
Joanne Smith Moray House School of Education, The University of Edinburgh, UK
Gert-Jan Pepping University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The
Netherlands
Like many of the other contributors in this volume we have all been fortunate
enough to work with Dave Lee in Edinburgh, and it is true to say that he has
inspired us with his ideas and enthusiasm and has shaped our thinking and
careers. Back in the mid 1990s when our venture started the “tau story” was well
underway. It would be fair to say, however, that at that time it was going
through a few “ups and downs” in that the optical W and W hypotheses were seen by many as providing a parsimonious and elegant account of action control but
they were also attracting some criticisms. Discussions on the strengths and
weaknesses of these two hypotheses prompted Dave to extend his ideas, and, in
1998, he published a new generalized theory of guidance in Ecological
Psychology. This is one of Dave’s seminal articles. In it he outlines in great
detail his ideas on action control and the shifts in his thinking from the early
ideas to a broader generic perspective. Subsequently, the model of intrinsic
guidance that he presented in this article has undergone a series of refinements
and this is a process in which Dave is still engaged today.
