ABSTRACT
In this interview conducted by Agnes Szokolszky in 1997, Michael Turvey, a leading figure of the “Connecticut school” of ecological psychology recounts his career, including his early award-winning work in the decidedly orthodox information processing perspective. The interview details how he became acquainted with Gibson's ecological approach to perception, and dedicated himself to developing this heterodox program of theory and research, especially by building a theory of action that was compatible with Gibson's approach to perception. The interview evokes the intense atmosphere of the “Storrs scene” from the time Robert Shaw arrived there, and the establishment of the Center for the Ecological Study of Perception and Action which has become a leading training and research center. Turvey assesses the state of cognitive science and the state of the ecological approach in the late 1990s and gives his thoughts on the future of psychology and Gibson's place in it. In the current reflection that follows the interview, he emphasizes the continuing contributions of generations of graduate students to development of the ecological perspective. He also argues that progress will continue to come by anchoring the explanation of perception and action not in the nervous system and not limited to human achievements but in generic principles that support a theory for all organisms. The chapter also contains a short biography and a list of ten of his most important publications.
