The concept of affordance was originally conceived in ecological psychology by James Gibson to designate all kinds of action possibilities latent in the physical environment. Gibson first used affordance to refer to a specific kind of relationship between an animal and the environment. For Gibson, ‘the affordances of the envi- ronment are what it offers the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or will’ (2015: 119, empha- sis in original). Although this definition seems to privilege what specific environmental properties have to offer an animal, Gibson also emphasizes that affordances are to be understood as a relational property: ‘I mean by it something that refers to both the environment and the animal in a way that no existing term does’ (2015: 119). Gibson's aim was to propose a theory of visual perception based on the ways in which different species inhabit their surroundings. In his seminal book The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception, first published in 1979, Gibson takes up the question of ‘how we see', Gibson was interested in exploring how ‘we see the environment around us', particularly in terms of how ‘we see its surfaces, their layout, and their colors and textures’ (2015: xiii).

Begrebet affordance blev oprindeligt udtænkt i økologisk psykologi af James Gibson for at udpege alle former for handlingsmuligheder latente i det fysiske miljø. Gibson brugte først affordance til at henvise til en bestemt form for forhold mellem et dyr og miljøet. For Gibson er 'miljøets affordances, hvad det tilbyder dyret, hvad det giver eller giver, enten for godt eller vilje' (2015: 119, fremhævelse i original). Selvom denne definition synes at privilegere, hvilke specifikke miljøegenskaber har at tilbyde et dyr, understreger Gibson også, at affordancer skal forstås som en relationel egenskab: 'Jeg mener med det noget, der refererer til både miljøet og dyret på en måde, som ikke eksisterende udtryk gør' (2015: 119). Gibsons mål var at foreslå en teori om visuel perception baseret på de måder, hvorpå forskellige arter lever i deres omgivelser. I sin banebrydende bog The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception, udgivet første gang i 1979, tager Gibson spørgsmålet om 'hvordan vi ser' op, Gibson var interesseret i at udforske, hvordan 'vi ser miljøet omkring os', især med hensyn til hvordan 'vi ser'. se dens overflader, deres layout og deres farver og teksturer' (2015: xiii).