媒介可供性:以生态心理学路径深入数字媒体研究

Media Affordances: An Ecological Psychology Perspective to Understand Digital Media

在新闻与传播学领域,基于可供性概念的研究产生了大量成果,不仅丰富了这一概念的理论内涵,而且该概念的分析场景已扩大至用户与新媒体关系的学术讨论。但是,已有研究存在着概念内涵过于宽泛、不同细分领域难以进行有效学术沟通等问题。对于数字媒体的理解,有必要回归到可供性概念最初的生态心理学视角,依照其提出者美国心理学家詹姆斯·吉布森(James Gibson)的阐释来归纳可供性对数字新闻学研究的意义。可供性概念从生态心理学发端,在设计研究与技术研究中进一步发扬光大,现在进入到数字新闻学领域,新闻研究者藉此分别从生态学与心理学角度阐释数字新闻业的新现象。一方面,可供性概念促使我们树立动态的观念,以动态的视角考察媒体和内容的关系。另一方面,可供性概念鼓励我们关注使用者的认知与情感,克服数字时代新闻学研究对技术的过度迷恋。可供性有助于突破新闻学研究的固有边界,结合跨学科研究成果发展数字新闻理论。

This paper returns to the eco-psychological perspective of the concept of affordance, and summarizes its contributions to digital journalism studies according to the ideas of its creator-American psychologist James Gibson.Affordance, a concept originated from ecological psychology and entered digital journalism through design studies and technology studies, can help journalism researchers understand digital journalism from both ecological and psychological perspectives.For one thing, affordance can help journalism studies develop a dynamic conception to examine relationships between different actants in the digital networks.For another, the concept also encourages researchers to pay attention to users' cognition and emotion, and to overcome the obsession with technology in digital journalism studies.Overall, the concept of affordance lends an interdisciplinary research approach to break through the boundaries of traditional journalism studies.