Since 1991, the edited book series Studies in Perception and Action has appeared in conjunction with the biennial International Conference of Perception and Action (ICPA), a conference that provides an opportunity for individuals who share interests in ecological psychology to come together to present current research, exchange ideas, and engage in conversation on theoretical and methodological concerns. The Studies in Perception and Action series is a way to preserve the dialogues between conference attendees and researchers displaying their latest work. This volume, the eighth in the series, presents the conversations held at the 13th ICPA meeting in the summer of 2005.
 
"Studies in Perception and Action VIII "includes broad coverage of the most current advances in research on perceiving and acting, including contributions from researchers in Australia, China, Japan, Europe, and North America. It addresses cutting-edge research in dynamics and human movement, recent progress in ecological approaches to perceiving and acting, and substantially extends our knowledge of just how rich a source of information the world is across a wide range of modalities.
 
This volume will appeal to individuals who follow the research literature in ecological psychology, as well as those interested in perception, perceptual development, human movement dynamics, and social processes.

A cognitive psychologist and an industrial design engineer draw on their own experiences of cognition in the context of everyday life and work to explore how people attempt to find practical solutions for complex situations. The book approaches these issues by considering higher-order relations between humans and their ecologies such as satisfying, specifying, and affording. This approach is consistent with recent shifts in the worlds of technology and product design from the creation of physical objects to the creation of experiences. Featuring a wealth of bespoke illustrations throughout, A Meaning Processing Approach to Cognition bridges the gap between controlled laboratory experiments and real-world experience, by questioning the metaphysical foundations of cognitive science and suggesting alternative directions to provide better insights for design and engineering. An essential read for all students of Ecological Psychology or Cognitive Systems Design, this book takes the reader on a journey beyond the conventional dichotomy of mind and matter to explore what really matters.

Dr Saugstad's dominant interest was in the area of thinking. Many psychologists would have been familiar with his published work in this field at the time. To gain a clearer understanding of the thought processes, he carried out extensive studies of perception. First published in 1965, this book originated in an attempt to reconcile a phenomenological and a behavioristic approach to psychology. Basic assumptions in phenomenology, behavioristics and psychophysics are examined. It is shown that in phenomenology theoretical concepts tend to be treated as observations, whereas in behavioristics observations tend to be treated as theoretical concepts. It is pointed out that the relationship between observer and observed event is confused throughout the history of psychology. This confusion, the author insists, is due to the fact that man's cognitive processes are to a large extent unknown. In relating observations to each other, the psychologist will of necessity contaminate his observations unless he follows specific rules. This fundamental point had apparently not been previously realized by psychologists. In order to develop an adequate conception of scientific psychology, the nature of man's cognitive processes must be taken into account. When this is done, one sees that drastic revisions of current conceptions of psychology are necessary. This book presents a conception of psychology which does take into account man's cognitive processes.

Originally published in 1982, The Shaman and the Magician draws on the author's wide experience of occultism, western magic and anthropological knowledge of shamanism, to explore the interesting parallels between traditional shamanism and the more visionary aspects of magic in modern western society. In both cases, as the author shows, the magician encounters profound god-energies of the spirit, and it is up to the individual to interpret these experiences in psychological or mythological terms. The book demonstrates that both shamanism and magic offer techniques of approaching the visionary sources of our culture.

Originally published in 1974, this introductory text has been designed specifically for teachers in training, and it presents the basic psychological principles governing learning, perception, motivation and the retention of knowledge at the time. The text is carefully tailored for would-be teachers in its clear and informal style, and in its selective aspects of psychology which the teacher can use to advantage in his efforts to assist the child. The book has an eclectic approach to psychological theory, drawing upon the insights of behaviourism, perceptualism and the Gestalt school, as well as the developmental theories of Jean Piaget. The author discusses in some detail theories concerning the nature of intelligence, and the relationship between creativity and intelligence; and he investigates the dynamics of social adjustment, introducing the part that may be played by meditation in helping to solve some of the problems of emotional stress within the learning situation. In his consideration of the management of learning, the author lays much emphasis upon the importance of individual cognitive styles, individualizing instruction and independent learning. In one chapter Dr Mueller is concerned with factors in the measurement of personality and of performance in the classroom, and he reflects upon the specific problem of objectivity in such assessment. Finally, some consideration is given to the problems and characteristics of the socially disadvantaged child and to the role of the teacher in helping to solve some of the learning problems of these children.

Contents:
Part I: Saying, Seeing and Acting. Background to the Domain. Introduction to the Domain. Saying Spatial Prepositions and Lexical Semantics. Grounding Language in Perception - From "Saying" to "Seeing and Acting". Part II: Saying, Seeing and Acting: Constructing an Account. Introducing the Functional Geometric Framework. Experimental Evidence for the Functional Geometric Framework. The So-called Topographical Prepositions. Experimental Evidence for the Functional Geometric Framework. Which Way up is up? The Projective Prepositions. Experimental Evidence for the Functional Geometric Framework. Other Prepositions: Proximity, Coincidence and Being between. Part III: Putting Saying, Seeing and Acting Together. The Functional Geometric Framework in Action. Putting It all Together. Cross-linguistic and Developmental Implications. Extensions, Links and Conclusions. References.

Originally published in 1978, The Occult Sourcebook has been compiled primarily for the many people who are for the first time becoming engrossed by the numerous and often confusing possibilities underlying the occult sciences. It consists of a series of articles on key areas, providing the reader with easy access to basic facts, together with a carefully planned guide to further reading. Critical comments on the recommended books allow the reader to select those which best suit their interests. The authors have also included a 'Who's Who of the occult' to provide short biographies of some of the more amazing figures who have already travelled down the mystic path. The book offers a programmed system of exploration into the realms of the unknown. It will be invaluable to the increasing number of people who are concerned with the exploration of enlarging human consciousness.

Maintaining the strong pedagogy, abundant student-friendly examples, and engaging conversational style of the previous editions, the sixth edition of this introductory textbook makes technical scientific information accessible to those who are beginning to specialize in cognitive psychology. Sensation and Perception, Sixth Edition is newly available in a more affordable paperback version, making it ideal for undergraduate students. In this new edition Bates has built on Foley and Matlin's core text to add updates focusing on multisensory integration, neural plasticity, and cognitive neuroscience, as well as real-world examples and practical applications of psychological phenomena. The sixth edition retains the clear organization of previous versions, covering a wide range of core topics, from skin senses such as touch to chemical senses such as taste and smell, to our complex visual and auditory sensory systems. This book is essential reading for undergraduates and postgraduates studying courses on sensation and perception.

Understanding visual perceptual organization remains a challenge for vision science. Perceptual Organization in Vision: Behavioral and Neural Perspectives explores ideas emanating from behavioral, developmental, neuropsychological, neurophysiological, and computational approaches to the problem of perceptual organization. The growing body of research on perceptual organization has converged on a number of critical issues, most of which are addressed in this volume. These include issues concerning the nature and order of organizational processes, the stimulus factors that engage the mechanisms of organization, the developmental stage at which the mechanisms of organization are available, the role of past experience and learning in organization, the neural mechanisms underlying perceptual organization, and the relations between perceptual organization and other cognitive processes, in particular, object recognition and visual attention. Divided into four parts, the book is designed not only to detail the current state of the art in the field but also to promote an interdisciplinary approach to the study of perceptual organization. Part I presents an overview of the problem of perceptual organization, different frameworks for understanding perceptual organization, and a state-of-the-art summary of the domain. Part II details which organizational processes are hardwired in the perceptual system, which are acquired through experience, and how object perception relates to other aspects of cognition. Part III describes various attempts to understand the neural mechanisms underlying perceptual organization using two different approaches--neurophysiological and neuropsychological. Part IV offers a computational approach to the problem. This book is intended for cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists, computational vision scientists, and developmental psychologists.

Spatial vision is a subject in which philosophy, psychology, ophthalmology, neurophysiology and pathology meet. It is the unique contribution of this book that gives a survey of the whole subject, in historical perspective. The author, a former professor of ophthalmology at the University of Amsterdam, is an authority in the field of binocular vision (Diplopia, 1973) and colour vision (History of Color, 1999). Seeing Space is written for ophthalmologists, optometrists, orthoptists and other practitioners of visual science, but also for psychologists and anybody interested in the philosophy and science of perception. The book contains three parts: Part I contains chapters on objective and subjective space and on non-visual space perception. Part II begins with a short survey of the visual system. As eye movements are of crucial importance in the perception of space, the evolution of the eye and the eye movements is described. There are chapters on the perception of direction, stereoscopic depth and movement. A sensorimotor theory of space perception is elaborated. Part III is dedicated to the perception of objects. There are chapters on the perception of contours, surfaces, dimensionality and size (including the "moon illusion"). Finally the problem of the relation between mind and matter is raised, but not solved.

How do we sort the objects, people, events and ideas in the world into their proper categories? What transforms the 'blooming, buzzing confusion' that enters our eyes and ears when we are born into the orderly world which we eventually experience and interact with? This most basic of questions about human (and animal) perception and cognition is the subject of Categorical Perception, an exhaustive survey and integration of a diverse array of findings. Categorical Perception brings together all the known examples of categorical perception, from research on humans and animals, infants and adults, in all the sense modalities: hearing, seeing and touch. The perceptual findings are interpreted in terms of the available cognitive and neuroscientific theories of how categorical perception is accomplished by the brain: is it inborn? is it learned? what is it that the mind does to the incoming continuous information to sort it into the discrete categories we can see, manipulate, name and describe? Work on elementary perceptual and psychophysical categories (colours, sounds) is then compared with work on higher-order categories: objects, patterns, abstract concepts. From a focus on the most thoroughly investigated case of categorical perception - speech perception - the book proceeds to an integrative view of categorization in general.

The remarkable complexity and sophistication of our perceptual systems have evolved for ultimately one purpose - to promote efficient and effective action within a constantly changing environment. Traditionally, the route from perception to action has often been viewed as a single, one-directional sequence of stages, which begins with a stimulus presentation and ends with a response. This view has tended to emphasize the separation of perception from action, with the result that studies of stimulus and response processing have often been carried out in isolation from each other. The work in this issue takes a different approach, which reflects renewed and increasing interest in how cognitive systems for vision and action are integrated. The studies here explore multiple pathways between vision and action, the ways in which vision promotes action, and even the conditions and degree to which action and its consequences can influence vision. A variety of methods and theoretical approaches are represented, in studies examining spatial coding, object processing, motor behaviour, attentional bias, and codes for action.

Related link: Free Email Alerting

The question this book aims to address is: how do we take on board post-modern insights regarding the relationship between language and world without losing our grip on theological truth? Employing the linguistic philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein as 'philosophical hand-maid' (as opposed to 'metaphysical gate-keeper', which has tended to be the case), it subjects to critique both traditional realist and post-modern constructivist perspectives as it examines how the nature and role of metaphor-making at the creative edge of language casts light on the God-language-world relationship. It concludes that a Wittgensteinian understanding of the relationship between language and world is not only compatible with a 'theistic-realist' doctrine of God but that the shape of this doctrine is inescapably Trinitarian.

This book is a testimony to Evgeny Nikolaevich Sokolov's years of work in developing knowledge in the areas of perception, information processing and attention, and to the research it has spawned. It presents a historical account of a research program, leading the reader toward a cognitive science approach to the study of perception and attention. An understanding of neuroscience and mathematical modeling are helpful prerequisites. The co-authors collected data on orienting, attention, and information processing in the brain using single-cell recordings, central, autonomic, cognitive, behavioral, and verbal measures. This commonality brought them together for a series of meetings which resulted in the production of this book. The book ends with a review of some of the co-authors studies that have developed from or in parallel with Sokolov's research. They investigate, in particular, the concepts of attention and anticipation using a psychophysiological methodology.

The simple act of seeing an object conceals an array of fascinating and difficult scientific questions. Since objects occlude themselves and each other, the information available for seeing objects is fragmentary. Yet we perceive whole objects, and doing so provides a key foundation for action, thought, language and learning. As we move, the visible parts of objects change, yet we experience these objects as being stable over time. The phenomenal coherence and stability of objects are simple facts of perceptual experience, but they result from complex computational processes. Despite years of work, researchers in biological and computational vision have yet to achieve satisfactory accounts of unit formation. The present period, however, is one of new insights and rapid progress. This book addresses the problem of how the human visual system organizes inputs that are fragmented in space and time into coherent, stable perceptual units - objects. In doing so it addresses the following questions: what kinds of segmentation and grouping abilities exist in human perceivers? What information and computational processes achieve segmentation and grouping? What are the psychological consequences of perceiving whole objects? In an effort to give a comprehensive, integrative answer to these questions the volume includes chapters from authors in five areas: philosophical foundations; computational and neural models of segmentation and grouping; attention and grouping; development; segmentation and grouping over time (event perception). The chapters review the contemporary state of the field, describe recent theoretical and empirical research, and provide some explicit suggestions for future research direction. "From Fragments to Objects: Segmentation and Grouping in Vision" takes a comprehensive cognitive science approach to object perception, brings together separate lines of research in object perception in one volume, gives an integrated and up-to-date review of theory and empirical research and offers directions for future study.

This book explores the nature of one of the most ancient tools for nonverbal communication: drawings. They are naturally adaptable enough to meet an incredibly wide range of communication needs. But how exactly do they do their job so well?
Avoiding the kinds of aesthetic rankings of different graphic domains so often made by art historians and critics, Manfredo Massironi considers an extensive and representative sample of graphic applications with an open mind. He finds a deep mutuality between the material components of images and the activation of the perceptual and cognitive processes that create and decipher them.
Massironi first examines the material components themselves: the mark or line, the plane of representation (the angle formed by the actual drawing surface and the depicted objects), and the position of the viewpoint relative to the depicted objects. The roles played by these three components are independent of the content of the drawing; they function in the same way in concrete and abstract representations. He then closely scrutinizes the choices made by the person planning and executing the drawings. Given that any object can be depicted in an infinite number of different ways, the drawer performs continuous work emphasizing and excluding different features. The choices are typically unconscious and guided by his or her communicative goals. A successful graph, be it simple or complex, is always successful precisely because the emphasized features are far fewer in number than the excluded ones. Finally, he analyzes the perceptual and cognitive integrations made by the viewer.
Drawings are not simply tools for communication but important instruments for investigating reality and its structure. Richly illustrated, the book includes a series of graphic exercises that enable readers to get a sense of their own perceptual and cognitive activity when inspecting images. Massironi's pathbreaking taxonomy of graphic productions will illuminate all the processes involved in producing and understanding graphic images for a wide audience, in fields ranging from perceptual and cognitive psychology through human factors and graphic design to architecture and art history.

This book explores the nature of one of the most ancient tools for nonverbal communication: drawings. They are naturally adaptable enough to meet an incredibly wide range of communication needs. But how exactly do they do their job so well?
Avoiding the kinds of aesthetic rankings of different graphic domains so often made by art historians and critics, Manfredo Massironi considers an extensive and representative sample of graphic applications with an open mind. He finds a deep mutuality between the material components of images and the activation of the perceptual and cognitive processes that create and decipher them.
Massironi first examines the material components themselves: the mark or line, the plane of representation (the angle formed by the actual drawing surface and the depicted objects), and the position of the viewpoint relative to the depicted objects. The roles played by these three components are independent of the content of the drawing; they function in the same way in concrete and abstract representations. He then closely scrutinizes the choices made by the person planning and executing the drawings. Given that any object can be depicted in an infinite number of different ways, the drawer performs continuous work emphasizing and excluding different features. The choices are typically unconscious and guided by his or her communicative goals. A successful graph, be it simple or complex, is always successful precisely because the emphasized features are far fewer in number than the excluded ones. Finally, he analyzes the perceptual and cognitive integrations made by the viewer.
Drawings are not simply tools for communication but important instruments for investigating reality and its structure. Richly illustrated, the book includes a series of graphic exercises that enable readers to get a sense of their own perceptual and cognitive activity when inspecting images. Massironi's pathbreaking taxonomy of graphic productions will illuminate all the processes involved in producing and understanding graphic images for a wide audience, in fields ranging from perceptual and cognitive psychology through human factors and graphic design to architecture and art history.

Perception of expression distinguishes our cognitive activity in a pervasive, significant and peculiar way, and manifests itself paradigmatically in the vast world of artistic production. Art and Expression examines the cognitive processes involved in artistic production, aesthetic reception, understanding and enjoyment. Using a phenomenological theoretical and methodological framework, developed by Rudolf Arnheim and other important scholars interested in expressive media, Alberto Argenton considers a wide range of artistic works, which span the whole arc of the history of western graphic and pictorial art. Argenton analyses the representational strategies of a dynamic and expressive character that can be reduced to basic aspects of perception, like obliqueness, amodal completion, and the bilateral function of contour, giving new directions relative to the functioning of cognitive activity. Art and Expression is a monument to the fruitful collaboration of art history and psychology, and Argenton has taken great care to construct a meaningful psychological approach to the arts based also on a knowledge of pictorial genres that allows him to systematically situate the works under scrutiny. Art and Expression is an essential resource for postgraduate researchers and scholars interested in visual perception, art, and gestalt psychology.

Why do we respond to others-both to their physical appearances and to their personalities? What are the social influences on face perception? Current research perspectives on physical appearance by distinguished behavioral scientists from around the world were brought together in a special issue of Current Psychology and are offered here in a useful compendium.

Chapters and contributors include: "Assessing the State of Organizational Safety-Culture or Climate?" Kathryn J. Mearns and Rhona Flin; "Why Did It Happen to Me? Social Cognition Processes in Adjustment and Recovery from Criminal Victimization and Illness" by Malcolm D. MacLeod; "What's in a Name, What's in a Place? The Role of Verbal Labels in Distinct Cognitive Tasks" by J.B. Deegowski, D.M. Parker, and P. George; "On Disregarding Deviants: Exemplar Typicality and Person Perception" by C. Neil Macrae, Galen V. Bodenhausen, Alan B. Milne, and Luigi Castelli; "Mood in Chronic Disease: Questioning the Answers" by Marie Johnston; "The Emotional Impact of Faces (but not Names): Face Specific Changes in Skin Conductance Responses to Familiar and Unfamiliar People" by Hadyn D. Ellis, Angela H. Quayle, and Andrew W. Young; "Average Faces are Average Faces" by Jim Pollard, John Shepard, and Jean Shepard; "Computer Graphic Studies of the Role of Facial Similarity in Judgments of Attractiveness" by I.S. Penton-Voak, D.I. Perrett, and J.W. Peirce; "One Extreme or the Other, or Perhaps the Golden Mean? Issues of Spatial Resolution in Face Processing" by Dennis M. Parker and Nicholas P. Costen; "The Impact of Character Attribution on Composite Production: A Real World Effect?" by Graham Davies and Heidi Oldman; "Repetition Priming of Face Gender Judgments: An Instance Based Explanation" by Dennis C. Hay.

Validation in Psychology will benefit students, researchers, and practitioners of psychology, criminology, sociology, and experts in organizational behavior who are concerned with the impact of physical appearance on health psychology, crime, organizational safety, and above all, person perception.

Flavour is arguably the most fascinating aspect of eating and drinking. It utilises a complex variety of senses and processes, that incredibly work together to generate a unified, and hopefully pleasurable, experience. The processes involved are not just those involved in tasting at the time of eating, but also memory and learning processes - we obviously shun those foods of which we have a negative memory, and favour those we enjoy. Our understanding of the science of flavour has improved in recent years, benefiting psychology, cuisine, food science, oenology, and dietetics.
This book describes what is known about the psychology and biology of flavour. Written by an authority in the field, it is divided into two parts. The first explores what we know about the flavour system; including the role of learning and memory in flavour perception and hedonics; the way in which all the senses that contribute to flavour interact, and our ability to perceive flavour as a whole and as a series of parts. The later chapters examine a range of theoretical issues concerning the flavour system. This includes a look at multisensory processing, and the way in which the mind and brain bind information from discrete sensory systems. It also examines the broader implications of studying flavour for societal problems such as obesity. Written in an accessible style, that assumes little prior knowledge of the field, the book will be valuable for psychologists interested in perception, neuroscientists, food scientists, and dieticians.

This book collects both classic and contemporary articles in visual perception, providing the reader with an overview of key research ideas as they first appeared. The articles span a century of research: the earliest was published in 1894, the most recent in 1997. There are examples from each of the many disciplines that have contributed to our current understanding of vision, including experimental psychology, cognitive psychology, neurophysiology, and functional neuroimaging. The topics include theoretical perspectives, early vision, perceptual organization and constancy, object and spatial vision, and visual attention and awareness. A brief introduction to each article by the editor provides an intellectual context and pointers to subsequent developments. Suggestions for further reading and discussion questions provide a framework for students to strengthen their understanding of different topics.

This book will be an excellent source of supplementary readings in an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in vision, or a stand-alone text for an in-depth graduate seminar. Professionals in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, visual science, and cognitive science will find this a valuable addition to their personal libraries.

Related link: Free Email Alerting

John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding is among the most important books in philosophy ever written. It is also a difficult work dealing with many themes, including the origin of ideas; the extent and limits of human knowledge; the philosophy of perception; and religion and morality. This volume is original in that it focuses on the last two of these topics and provides a clear and insightful survey of these overlooked aspects of Locke's best known work. Four eminent Locke scholars present authoritative discussions of Locke's view on the ethics of belief, personal identity, free will and moral theory. Contributors include John Passmore (Australian National University), Harold Noonan (Birmingham University), Vere Chappell (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), and Daniel Flage (James Madison University).

John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding is among the most important books ever written in philosophy. It is a long and complex work dealing with many themes such as the origin of ideas, the extent and limits of human knowledge, the philosophy of perception and morality and religion. This volume is original in that it focuses clearly on the last two of these topics and highlights the importance of these in the book as a whole. It presents an extensive interpretive introduction by the editors and four essays by distinguished contemporary philosophers on Locke's views on the ethics of belief, personal identity, free will and moral theory. It will interest students and specialists interested in the history of philosophy, political science, religion and history.

Is it reasonable to live a religiously oriented life, or is such a life the height of irrationality? Has neuroscience shown that religious experiences are akin to delusions, or might neuroscience actually support the validity of such experiences? In Living Religion James W. Jones offers a new approach to understanding religion after the Decade of the Brain. The modern tendency to separate theory from practice gives rise to a number of dilemmas for those who think seriously about religion. Claims about God, the world, and the nature and destiny of the human spirit have been ripped from their context in religious practice and treated as doctrinal abstractions to be justified or refuted in isolation from the living religious life that is their natural home. Jones argues that trends in contemporary psychology, especially an emphasis on embodiment and relationality, can help the thoughtful religious person return theory to practice, thereby opening up new avenues of religious knowing and new ways of supporting the commitment to a religiously lived life. This embodied-relational model offers new ways of understanding our capacity to transform and transcend our ordinary awareness and shows that it can be meaningful and reasonable to speak of a "spiritual sense." The brain's complexity, integration, and openness, and the many ways embodiment influences our understanding of ourselves and the world, all significantly impact our thinking about religious understanding. When linked to contemporary neuroscientific theories, the long-standing tradition of a spiritual sense is brought up to date and deployed in support of the argument of this book that reason is on the side of those who choose a religiously lived life.

ICPA provides a forum for researchers and academics who share a common interest in ecological psychology to come together, present new research, and foster ideas towards the advancement of the field. This volume is the fourteenth in the Studies in Perception and Action book series, and highlights research presented at the 19th International Conference of Perception and Action (ICPA) in the summer of 2017. Since 1991, this edited book series has appeared in conjunction with the biennial ICPA meeting. The short papers and empirical articles presented in this book represent the contributions of researchers and laboratories from across the globe. The reader will find new, cutting-edge research on a wide variety of topics in perception and action. This volume will especially appeal to those that are interested in James J. Gibson's ecological approach to psychology, as well as, more broadly, students and researchers of visual and haptic perception, perceptual development, human movement dynamics, human factors, and social processes.