Cognitive probatonics: Towards an ecological psychology of cognitive particulars

This article takes an ecological approach to the functioning of self-organised cognitive systems. The dynamics of such systems are traced to how they are animated by agents through interactivity, or sense-saturated agent-environment coordination. These dynamics give rise to cognitive events, the nature of which is revealed with detailed micro level qualitative analyses which, in turn, unveil unique cognitive trajectories in a problem landscape. The article presents and exemplifies a method for doing so, the Cognitive Event Analysis. This method is based on a “probatonic principle” that prompts cognitive scientists to pay close attention to fine-grained particulars in human behaviour. Based on the methodological approach and two case studies, the article discusses how affordances and language function in a cognitive ecology.