Perception: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #538

by Brian J. Rogers

Perception is one of the oldest and most deeply investigated topics in the field of psychology, and it also raises some profound philosophical questions. It is concerned with how we use the information reaching our senses to guide and control our behavior as well as to create our particular, subjective experiences of the surrounding world.

In this Very Short Introduction , Brian J. Rogers discusses the philosophical question of what it means to perceive, as well as describing how we are able to perceive the particular characteristics of objects and scenes such as their lightness, color, form, depth, and motion. What we perceive, however, does not always correspond to what exists in the world and, as Rogers shows, the study of illusions can be useful in telling us something about the nature and limitations of our perceptual processes. Rogers also explores perception from an evolutionary perspective, explaining how evolutionary pressures have shaped the perceptual systems of humans and other animals. He shows that perception is not necessarily a separate and independent process but rather part of a "perceptual system," involving both the extraction of perceptual information and the control of action. Rogers goes on to cover the significant progress made recently in the understanding of perception through the use of precise
and controlled psychophysical methods, single cell recordings, and imaging techniques. There have also been many insights from attempts to model perceptual processes in artificial systems. As Rogers shows, these attempts have revealed how difficult it is to program machines to perform even the most simple of perceptual tasks that we take for granted.

ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Psychology, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Science

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Anisha Inkspill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book explores what is perception – and in an undaunting accessible way, explains it. Brian Rogers in his first chapter, under the heading definition explains perception as:

However, the word perception can also be used to refer to the processes that allow us to extract information from the patterns of energy that impinge on our sense organs.
Kindle ed: Location: 732

Brian Rogers focuses on the process of sensory information received regardless of how subjective it is.

I found the book helpful in how it introduced me to so many different ideas from people who have carried out experiments and shared their findings, this ranged from perceiving colour to how we see things including optical illusions. The diagrams and images included also helped to furnish my understanding.

And I was amazed that I did not lose my way when Brian Rogers explained the differences in people’s perception and why. But what I liked the most is having a better understanding of how the eye works, particularly in how it sees and can vary from one person to another. This is a subject I have been interested in but have never taken the time to read about it as I always assumed it would be too hard to understand, in reading this book I realised how I wrong I was about this.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf @ 48%

Not at all what I wanted. Not at all what most people would likely be expecting given the series title of "Very Short Introductions". As far as I managed to read, instead this is very detailed theories on vision, cuz you know that's the only form of perception. A lot of it might be interesting to the right person or in the right context. Like, did you know the way you were probably taught to think of the cones in your eye working is grossly oversimplified to the point you could really call it false? Although I'm not sure if that's for sure, or just a theory, because my eyes kept glazing over and I was too disinterested to try and parse some of the technical stuff.

I note the one other review says the later chapters are better, but I just can't force myself to go on, I'm barely clinging to consciousness as it is.

[Mikołaj Ochocki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introductory book into the field of perception.

The title should specify 'Visual perception' rather than just 'perception'.

Introduces the reader to main concepts/thinkers who have shaped our understanding of perception in the last 150 years.

[Bruce Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this book is misleading. First, it is human visual perception, namely perception with the aid of light. Light comprises of 0.0035% of the electromagnetic spectrum, reducing the scope to the ridiculously tiny. Within that tiny band, we deal with the illusion called color. Birds, fish and reptiles tend to do better than us at color identification. As the author points out, ‘we are all color blind to some extent…’
As the author himself put it, ‘There is more to perception than meets the eye.’ A lot more. Here’s what’s missing. Hallucination. No mention. Imagination as perception. No mention. As Douglas Pike wrote in his preface to Viet Cong - The Organization and Techniques of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, “Like the Irishman’s evidence, this book is chock full of omissions.”

[Usfromdk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it hard to decide whether or not to give the book two stars or three, but in the end I decided to give it a third star. The later chapters of the book are in my opinion somewhat better than the first few ones, which contained too much theorizing of limited value.

[David Gross · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title was poorly-chosen. This is really a book about vision in particular.