2.3.2. J.J Gibson's Theory of Direct Perception

James Jerome Gibson (1979) believed that our cognitive apparatus was created and formed by a long evolutionary influence of the external environment, which is apparent in its structure and abilities. We learned to extract precisely the information which is necessary for our survival. By Darwin's

assumption, the pressures of the environment caused our receptors to be created and formed so that they became sensitive to relevant stimulus from the environment and they adapted to the environment. Such interpretation of perception is called the ecological one because it attributes the determinative role to the environment and to its influence on the whole process of perception. The basis of Gibson's theory is the conviction that our perception is determined by optical flows—optic arrays—which Gibson regarded as some sort of structure or pattern of light in the environment. The visual terminology he was using is not crucial since, analogically, it can be used for auditory or tactile components of perception. J.J Gibson's theory is quite relevant to this study because we believe that every individual perceives information depending on several different factors, as discussed in the theory, which gives us a reason to capture the opinion of a number of accountants on the recent decision to transit to the revised OHADA law on accounting and financial reporting (revised SYSCOHADA).
