Perception (Foundations of Modern Psychology series)

by Julian E. Hochberg

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: B00WVJ3V72
• Release Date: January 1964
• Publisher: Prentice-Hall

Customer Reviews

A sleepy classical-pop romance awaits your senses.

"On the other hand, no amount of study of the physical energies alone, or the physiological structure alone, will teach us anything about perception. "The study of perception is PRIMARILY psychological." So said psychologist Julian E. Hochberg in his sensational book from 1964, entitled "Perception," where what we experience is granted its own nomenclature. Hochberg has for some time been a giant in the field of psychophysics--the study of the relationship between physical stimuli and their perception. (Sense perception was defined by James Drever, in "A Dictionary of Psychology" [1952], as: "The apprehension of situations or objects, determined by, or based on, stimuli affecting the sense organs at the moment.") His book is part of the 14 volume "Foundations of Modern Psychology Series," edited by world renown stress and coping expert, Richard S. Lazarus. While only a mere 118 pages, the volume's size belies the storehouse between its covers, not to mention the copious and invaluable--generally black and white--illustrations. It is similar to Maggie D. Vernon's "The Psychology of Perception" (1962), in that it covers mainly the visual aspects of perception, however, I found her work jejune and not as complete as Hochberg's. "Human senses and perception" (1964), by C.M. Wyburn, R.W. Pickford and R.J. Hirst is a tome which covers all five human senses and is more physiologically oriented, but not as exciting to read as Hochberg's work. "Perception" contains six chapters, each equipped with a relatively terse and handy summary. Below is an explanation of some of the material one can glean from each chapter. "The Study of Perception" purveys an outline of the book, asseverating that the discussion at hand will be undertaken in a totally factual manner; further exploring applied research. "The Sensations and Their Measurement" shows Hochberg denouncing the Structuralists, who believed that with everything seen in one's world a specific nerve energy or receptor neuron could be located with a matching sensation. "Sensations: The Perception of Elementary Physical Events" examines the physical measurement of two-dimensional light patterns through wavelength--distance, in billionths of a metre, between one wave of light energy and another, defining colour; wavelength balance--saturation, making a colour appear pure, in lieu of desaturated with additional waves, therefore appearing greyish; and intensity--the amount of electrical physical energy exhibited, leading to brightness. "Perceiving Objects as Structures of Sensations" looks at solid objects in three-dimensional space, where Hochberg expounds that stimuli which are complex might not appear as expected. For instance, the aforementioned individual light pattern will appear different when surrounded by light of another hue. The same applies to shape, size and motion of objects, governed by, for example, perceptual constancy--the resisting of change regardless of the stimulus; illusions