Metaffordance

Metaffordance was introduced to the internet by Dr Paul Treffner. The website was launched in 2009 and was recently updated (2026). The goal is to offer concepts, analysis, tools, and techniques from ecological psychology and complex systems science to help people optimise their perception, action, and interaction with their environment, whatever it may be.

The term "metaffordance" is a play on the term "affordance" - a term meaning the "perceivable possibilities for action" that the environment offers or affords to an organism (Gibson, 1966, 1979). A metaffordance involves the prefix "meta-" meaning "beyond" or "about". It reflects the idea of going beyond traditional first-order affordances to explore the meta-level of higher-order affordances for perception and action - the affordances of an affordance.

Paul Treffner, PhD, Experimental Psychology (Ecological Psychology)

Dr Paul Treffner is a researcher and consultant working in ecological psychology, perception-action systems, and complex systems science. With a background in experimental psychology and data science, he has conducted research in applied psychology, health science, motor coordination dynamics, perception & attention, communication science, AI/neural networks, and distracted driving behaviour. He has published extensively on the dynamics of perception-action from a complex systems perspective. His work now focuses on applying such concepts to real-world problems involving human behaviour in complex environments.

Paul's directly applicable skills include research design, statistical analysis, data visualisation, policy evaluation, and results communication in plain language. This expertise has been gained through years of research and practice, and he is fortunate to have worked with the recognised leaders in the field, doing a PhD with Prof Michael Turvey (founder of University of Connecticut's Centre for the Ecological Study of Perception and Action, and a postdoctoral fellowship with Prof Scott Kelso (founder of Florida Atlantic University's Centre for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences).

Following a Masters degree in machine learning at Essex University, he also worked on a PhD in AI, neural networks and deep learning with Prof Noel Sharkey, the UK pioneer of AI and neural nets (and Head Judge of the TV show Robot Wars; founder of the international ethics group, Campaign Against Killer Robots). The unique synergy of these experiences has given Dr Treffner a multidisciplinary perspective on recent developments in AI and the dynamics of perception, action, and learning.

The idea of "metaffordances" was conceived by Dr Treffner around 1996 and peer-reviewed publications refer to "Metaffordance Consultants" as the author affiliation (e.g., Treffner, Peter, & Kleidon, 2008). The term "metaffordance" has been used in various publications since 1996, including in the context of driving behaviour, user interface design, and visualisation.