This is a book about how we see: the environment around us (its surfaces, their layout, and their colors and textures); where we are in the environment; whether or not we are moving and, if we are, where we are going; what things are good for; how to do things (to thread a needle or drive an automobile); or why things look as they do.The basic assumption is that vision depends on the eye which is connected to the brain. The (...) author suggests that natural vision depends on the eyes in the head on a body supported by the ground, the brain being only the central organ of a complete visual system. When no constraints are put on the visual system, people look around, walk up to something interesting and move around it so as to see it from all sides, and go from one vista to another. That is natural vision—and what this book is about. (shrink)

This textbook on vision reflects the integrated computational approach of modern research scientists, combining psychological, computational and neuroscientific perspectives.

Reexamines the Western philosophical tradition, looking at the basic concepts of the mind, time, causation, morality, and the self.

This book discusses principles and theories regarding perception and communication. Relevant research data is presented which support these theories. 2004 APA, all rights reserved).

Although the mechanics of how the eye works are well understood, debate still exists as to how the complex machinery of the brain interprets neural impulses...

By characterizing the function of the ventral and dorsal visual streams as, respectively, vision-for-perception and vision-for-action, Milner and Goodale have brought some action onto the perceptual scene. However, with the distinction of the ventral "what" system and the dorsal "how" system, comes a dilemma: How is the operation of the two systems united toward common goals? This is an example of a binding problem. We propose that for binding these two systems, no mechanism needs to exist in the brain to (...) bring ventral and dorsal representations together. Coherent behavior may be accomplished by focusing the two streams upon the same external object through a strategy of spatial selection, using either the fovea or selective attention. This strategy exploits the simple fact that two objects cannot occupy the same place at the same time. Other kinds of binding, like that involving the perceptual binding of the elements of a scene into coherent perceptual units, may be accomplished by exploiting other regularities of the environment, such as the likelihood that two simultaneous sounds were caused by a common event. From an evolutionary perspective, the most effective way to cope with the distant environment is to use different but complementary sensors, both contributing to aspects of identification and action guidance. For example, audition plays a role both in perceptual analysis and in action guidance, suggesting the possibility of segregated processing of auditory information. Thus, the functional distinction between a "what" system and a "how" system may not be limited to the visual modality, but may be a fundamental distinction for behavioral control in general. (shrink)

First published in 1995, The Visual Brain in Action remains a seminal publication in the cognitive sciences. It presents a model for understanding the visual processing underlying perception and action, proposing a broad distinction within the brain between two kinds of vision: conscious perception and unconscious 'online' vision. It argues that each kind of vision can occur quasi-independently of the other, and is separately handled by a quite different processing system. In the 11 years since publication, the book has provoked (...) considerable interest and debate - throughout both cognitive neuroscience and philosophy, while the field has continued to flourish and develop. -/- For this new edition, the text from the original edition has been left untouched, standing as a coherent statement of the authors' position. However, a very substantial epilogue has been added to the book in which Milner and Goodale review some of the key developments that support or challenge the views that were put forward in the first edition. The new chapter summarizes developments in various relevant areas of psychology, neuroscience and behaviour. It notably supplements the main text by updating the reader on the contributions that have emerged from the use of functional neuroimaging, which was in its infancy when the first edition was written. Neuroimaging, and functional MRI in particular, has revolutionized the field over the past 11 years by allowing investigators to plot in detail the patterns of activity within the visual brains of behaving and perceiving humans. The authors show how its use now allows scientists to test and confirm their proposals, based as they then were largely on evidence accrued from primate neuroscience in conjunction with studies of neurological patients. (shrink)

The theory of Gestalt qualities arose from the attempt to explain how a melody is distinct from the collection of the tones which it comprehends. In this essay from 1890 Christian von Ehrenfels coined the term 'Gestaltqualität' to capture the idea of a pattern which is comprehensible in a single experience. This idea can be applied not only to melodies and other occurrent patterns, but also to continuant patterns such as shapes and colour arrays such as the array of a (...) chess board. Ehrenfel's essay gave birth to the Gestalt movement in psychology. (shrink)