Perception and the Physical World

The focus of this book is on conceptual and philosophical issues of perception including the classic notion of unconscious inferences in perception. The book consists of contributions from a group of internationally renowned researchers who spent a year together as distinguised fellows at the German Centre for Advanced Study.

Each chapter concludes with a lively, informative debate in the form of comments and replies from the contributors of the book.

? Contributors are of prominent international reputation
? Each chapter concludes with comments and replies from the contributors of the book to give informative debate
? The only book available to blend perception and philosophy in this fashion About the Editors

About the Authors

Preface

Part I From Sensory Codes to Perceptual Congnition

The Origins of the Sensation/Perception Distinction (M. Atherton)

Cognition as Code-Breaking (H. Barlow)

Comparative Overview of Perception of Distal and Proximal Visual Atributes (D. Todotovic)

The Physicalistic Trap in Perception Theory (R. Mausfeld)

Part II Unconscious Inference and Bayesian Approaches

Perception as Unconscious Inference (G. Hatfield)

Statistical Decision Theory and Biological Vision (L. Maloney)

Pattern Inference Theory: A Probabilistic Approach to Vision (D. Kersten and P. Schrater)

Perception and Evolution (B. Bennett et al)

The Very Idea of Perception as a Process of Unconscious Probabilistic Inference (M. Kaplan)

Part III Aspects of Picture Perception

Two Paradigms of Picture Perception (R. Schwartz)

Ecological Optics and the Creative Eye (J. Koenderink et al)

IV Epilogue

Hidden Agenda: A Sceptical View of the Privacy of Perception (H. Barlow)

Index

Dieter Heyer and Rainer Mausfeld are the authors of Perception and the Physical World: Psychological and Philosophical Issues in Perception, published by Wiley.

• How can we conceive of the relation between the available sensory input and our perceptual achievement?
• Does our perceptual system exploit the sensory input in terms of innately determined knowledge of properties of the physical world?
• How can we use Bayesian principles to provide key insights into the scope and limits of perception?

Perception is at the interface of the mental and the physical. The process of perception cannot be understood as simply providing some kind of picture of the physical world; rather the perceptual system strongly relies on built-in interpretations and exhibits inference-like and constructive-like properties.

In Perception and the Physical World an international field of renowned experts in vision research, philosophy and ecological physics focus on foundational and conceptual issues concerning the nature of perception, particularly unconscious inference, and highlight recent advances in the field.

Psychologists and students of psychology, philosophy and artificial intelligence at both undergraduate and postgraduate level will find this book an essential resource.