Van deadline naar lifeline - Hogeschool Leiden

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‘() there is a false dichotomy between body and mind, feeling and thought, and
perceiving and thinking. Human-environment interactions affect information
processing in many subtle and unconscious ways (Gallagher 2005). One key
reason is that abstract thinking -and selective attention- is not the beginning
of the meaning-making process. Abstract thought is grounded in our
embodiment, in our ability to perceive things, manipulate objects, and move
our bodies in space (Gibson 1966). One of the fundamentals of gestalt
perception, for example, is that our experience of a complex scene is organized
first by simple features (Arnheim 1969): a young child experiences
‘doggishness’ before he or she is able to distinguish one dog from another.
Furthermore, emotions constitute a precognitive response to our environment
(Ittelson 1976; Zajonc 1980). What is first experienced is how a situation feels
to us, and these pervasive qualities are not reducible to abstractions’
(Rathunde 2009, p.76).
‘A child at play outdoors is a perfect example of Reed’s (1996b) category of
primary experience, when people move and act in the real world with their
full-bodied powers, encountering inexhaustible sources of information that
offer opportunities for creative discovery‘ (Chawla 2007, p.155).
Ontwikkeling van ‘Playing in natural spaces also supports a child’s sense of self, allowing children
het ‘zelf’ to recognise their independence alongside an interdependence and
Onafhankelijkheid connectedness with their ecological worlds’
& gebondenheid (Lester, S. & M. Maudsley 2006, p.4).
‘Establishing familiarity in nearby natural environments and becoming
constructive and creative in dealing with these settings provide a wealth of
opportunities for generating feelings of autonomy, independence, and
self-sufficiency’ (Kellert 2002, p.133).