dr. R.G. (Rob) Withagen

Inviting playscapes

In my empirical research, I investigate, together with colleagues and students, how people are invited by their environment to be physically active. Inspired by the legendary playscapes of Aldo van Eyck, and his overall humanistic theory of architecture, the research focuses in particular on what attractive stepping stone paths or landscapes look like. How do they relate to the action capabilities of the user? Are there age-related preferences? Do people move more in configurations that they find aesthetically attractive?

Towards an ecological psychology

In my theoretical work, I try to develop an ecological approach to psychology as a whole, taking James Gibson’s groundbreaking work as my starting point. This research is based on the contention that psychology is in need of an ecological perspective that does justice to our lived experiences, offers a naturalistic account of value and meaning, and centralizes animal-environment mutuality. I attempt to further Gibson’s ecological framework by incorporating insights from various fields, ranging from phenomenology and developmental systems theory to psychoanalysis, architecture, and climate science.