Blindsight: a case study spanning 35 years and new developments

Oxford Psychology

by Lawrence Weiskrantz

Blindsight is an unusual condition where the sufferer can respond to visual stimuli, while lacking any conscious feeling of having seen the stimuli. It occurs after a particular form of brain injury.

The first edition of Blindsight , by one of the pioneers in the field - Lawrence Weiskrantz, reported studies of a patient with this condition. It was an important, much cited publication. In the past twenty years, further work has been done in this area, and this new edition brings the book up to date. Retaining the original text, but adding a substantial new chapter and colour illustrations, the first section of the book summarizes findings on DB since the last published account in 1986. The second part includes information on other new research that has occurred since the last edition. As well as giving an account of research over a number of years into a particular case of blindsight, it provides a discussion of the historical and neurological background, a review of cases reported by other investigators, and a number of theoretical and practical issues and implications.

The book will be valuable for cognitive psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists, as well as philosophers of mind.

266 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 1990

About the author

Lawrence Weiskrantz was a British psychologist, who discovered the phenomenon of blindsight.