Ecological validity (perception)
Encyclopedia
The ecological validity of a sensory cue
in perception
is the correlation between the cue (something an organism might be able to measure from the proximal stimulus) and a property of the world (some aspect of the distal stimulus). For example, the color
of a banana
is a cue that indicates whether the banana is ripe. This particular cue has an ecological validity close to 1, because a banana's ripeness is highly correlated with its color. By contrast, the presence of a sticker
on the banana is a cue with an ecological validity close to 0, if (as seems likely) ripe and unripe bananas (in a fruit bowl, say) are equally likely to have stickers on them.
The concept of ecological validity is closely related to likelihood
in Bayesian
statistical inference
and to cue validity
in statistics
.
defined the term "ecological validity" in the 1940's to describe a cue's informativeness. His students have written that the now-common use of "ecological validity" to describe a type of experimental validity was a corruption of his original terminology (see external link to paper by Hammond). Brunswik used the words representative design to describe what is now usually called the external validity
of an experiment; this in turn depends partly on what is now usually called the ecological validity
of the experiment. As originally defined by Brunswik, however, ecological validity was a property of a cue, not a property of an experiment.
Sensory cue
A sensory cue is a statistic or signal that can be extracted from the sensory input by a perceiver, that indicates the state of some property of the world that the perceiver is interested in perceiving....
in perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
is the correlation between the cue (something an organism might be able to measure from the proximal stimulus) and a property of the world (some aspect of the distal stimulus). For example, the color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
of a banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
is a cue that indicates whether the banana is ripe. This particular cue has an ecological validity close to 1, because a banana's ripeness is highly correlated with its color. By contrast, the presence of a sticker
Sticker
A sticker is a type of a piece of paper or plastic, adhesive, sticky on one side, and usually with a design on the other. They can be used for decoration, depending on the situation. They can come in many different shapes, sizes and colours and are put on things such as lunchboxes, in children's...
on the banana is a cue with an ecological validity close to 0, if (as seems likely) ripe and unripe bananas (in a fruit bowl, say) are equally likely to have stickers on them.
The concept of ecological validity is closely related to likelihood
Likelihood
Likelihood is a measure of how likely an event is, and can be expressed in terms of, for example, probability or odds in favor.-Likelihood function:...
in Bayesian
Bayesian inference
In statistics, Bayesian inference is a method of statistical inference. It is often used in science and engineering to determine model parameters, make predictions about unknown variables, and to perform model selection...
statistical inference
Statistical inference
In statistics, statistical inference is the process of drawing conclusions from data that are subject to random variation, for example, observational errors or sampling variation...
and to cue validity
Cue validity
Cue validity is the conditional probability that an object falls in a particular category given a particular feature or cue. The term was popularized by , and especially by Eleanor Rosch in her investigations of the acquisition of so-called basic categories .-Definition of cue validity:Formally,...
in statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
.
History of terminology
Egon BrunswikEgon Brunswik
Egon Brunswik was a psychologist who made contributions to functionalism and the history of psychology.-Early life and career:...
defined the term "ecological validity" in the 1940's to describe a cue's informativeness. His students have written that the now-common use of "ecological validity" to describe a type of experimental validity was a corruption of his original terminology (see external link to paper by Hammond). Brunswik used the words representative design to describe what is now usually called the external validity
External validity
External validity is the validity of generalized inferences in scientific studies, usually based on experiments as experimental validity....
of an experiment; this in turn depends partly on what is now usually called the ecological validity
Ecological validity
Ecological validity is a form of validity in a research study. For a research study to possess ecological validity, the methods, materials and setting of the study must approximate the real-life situation that is under investigation. Unlike internal and external validity, ecological validity is not...
of the experiment. As originally defined by Brunswik, however, ecological validity was a property of a cue, not a property of an experiment.
External links and references
- Kenneth R. Hammond "Ecological validity: Then and now."