ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the various functions of touch as they feature within own daily experiences—essentially to describe these functions with respect to the proximal processes outlined in the bioecological systems perspective. The influential experimental psychologist J. J. Gibson backed up the notion of the superiority of active touch. Two American psychologists, Susan Lederman and Roberta Klatzky, investigated in some detail the strategies used by individuals with mature haptic abilities when manipulating a range of objects. The sense of touch serves a number of key functions with respect to the proximal processes outlined in the bioecological systems perspective. These touch functions can be broadly divided into interactive and non-interactive types. Through a bioecological systems perspective, the proximal processes through which development occurs will include the close interactions between the learner and other people as well as the tangible objects and symbols in his or her world.
