AFFORDANCES

“Affordance is a term created by the perceptual psychologist J. J. Gibson to refer to the qualities of the physical world that suggest the possibility of interaction relative to the ability of an actor (person or animal) to interact.” (Gibson, 2005). This is the possibilities within your activity. The possibilities I will be discussing are communication properties, Moral properties and how the positive factors of cooking is connecting people.

Communication properties

The first communication property I would like to discuss is the need for communication when preparing a meal/learning to prepare a meal with another individual in regards to safety. The second is the importance of communicating effectively in order to prepare a meal properly.

In regards to safety, if you don’t communicate effectively when working alongside other individuals in the kitchen, it can cause accidents. It is important to inform others if, for example, you are carrying a hot pot from one destination to another. If people in the kitchen are not aware of others actions it will endanger their safety. It is important to speak up if you feel something you are doing is dangerous to others if they are unaware of it.

To prepare a meal correctly when working with another person it is important to communicate effectively. Meals could turn disastrous if there is a case of miscommunication! Ingredients can be doubled up, or worse, not put in at all! This will make the meal unenjoyable which will result in the mood changing when consuming the meal together. When humans indulge in a meal they enjoy, they will be happy and satisfied. When they indulge in a meal they do NOT enjoy, they will be annoyed and unsatisfied becoming slightly agitated as they could have eaten something else more enjoyable.

Moral properties + Connecting people

This is the good and bad aspects when preparing a meal. Let’s start with the bad and end with the good! There a not many bad aspects I can think of, apart from thinking of ideas to cook!! Living in a flat with 4 other girls, it is difficult to think of new and exciting ideas to cook. To make things more difficult, as we are students, we have limited money to spend on groceries each week so it is difficult to make anything too exciting! A good aspect however, is that it brings everybody together and connect as food is a “people magnet”. Preparing a meal for friends and family will bring them together at once and allow socialising and interaction to take place!

Gibson, J. (2005, August 8). Affordance. Retrieved October 17, 2011, from Motive Glossary: http://www.motive.co.nz/glossary/perceived-affordance.php