Cognitive ecology is an interdisciplinary field that studies cognitive phenomena within social and natural contexts, integrating insights from ecological psychology, cognitive science, evolutionary ecology, and anthropology. It highlights how domain-specific cognitive modules and biases influence individual thought and the spread of culturally transmitted ideas, which are then hypothesized to address relevant ecological challenges. Primarily deriving from ecological psychology and enactivism, the field rejects a passive, internal view of cognition, instead asserting that organisms actively 'enact a world' by transforming ecological information into meaningful relationships.
Pioneers like James Gibson introduced the concept of 'affordances'—exploitable environmental features—and argued for the inseparable connection between organisms and their environments. Gregory Bateson further illustrated informational feedback loops between mind and environment, using his 'blind man' thought experiment to suggest cognition extends beyond the brain, aligning with the 'extended mind thesis' that sees cognition distributed across an ecosystem and actively interacting with it.