What Events Are

Abstract

Stoffregen's (this issue) target article reminds us of many things about affordances and events, but it also argues for points that cannot be maintained. In particular, Stoffregen argues that animals do not perceive events. This result, if it turned out to be true, would create widespread consequences for ecological psychology. I argue that Stoffregen is incorrect: We do perceive events. To see that this is the case, however, requires a new conceptualization of events in which events are not merely changes in the physical surrounds of an animal; instead, events are taken to be changes in the layout of affordances of the animal-environment system. Some consequences of this conception of affordances are sketched.