Sensation and Perception

Description

Sensation & Perception, Sixth Edition, introduces students to their own senses, emphasizing human sensory and perceptual experience and the basic neuroscientific underpinnings of that experience. The authors, specialists in their respective domains, strive to spread their enthusiasm for fundamental questions about the human senses and the impact that answers to those questions can have on medical and societal issues.

• The Sensation and Perception in Everyday Life boxes discuss the application of basic science knowledge to practical problems in the real world. For example, in Chapter 5, aspects of the color picker in graphics programs can be directly traced to our understanding of how the eye and brain derived the experience of color from different mixtures of wavelengths of light. Online demonstration activities, such as through the use of perception experiments, illusions that illustrate key concepts, and models of cognitive processes, bring concepts and examples to life.
• Scientists at Work boxes walk students through the scientific process based on real experiments and provides a window into the thought process behind designing experiments that yield scientific results.
• New Multisensory Integration sections throughout the text highlight how human senses interact and create a more holistic and realistic picture of perception.

About the Author(s)

Jeremy Wolfe, Harvard University, Keith Kluender, Purdue University, Dennis Levi, University of California, Berkeley, Linda Bartoshuk, University of Florida, Rachel Herz, Brown University, Roberta Klatzky, Carnegie Mellon University, and Daniel Merfeld, Harvard University

Jeremy M. Wolfe is Professor of Ophthalmology and Radiology at Harvard Medical School.

Keith R. Kluender is Professor and Head of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and Professor of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University.

Dennis M. Levi is Professor in the School of Optometry and Professor at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley.

Linda M. Bartoshuk is Bushnell Professor, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Florida.

Rachel S. Herz is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University and Part-time Faculty in the Psychology and Neuroscience Department at Boston College.

Roberta L. Klatzky is the Charles J. Queenan Jr. Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, where she also holds faculty appointments in the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition and the Human-Computer Interaction Institute.

Daniel M. Merfeld is Professor of Otolaryngology at the Ohio State University College of Medicine and the Senior Vestibular Scientist at the Naval Medical Research Unit in Dayton.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. The First Steps in Vision: From Light to Neural Signals
Chapter 3. Spatial Vision: From Spots to Stripes
Chapter 4. Perceiving and Recognizing Objects
Chapter 5. The Perception of Color
Chapter 6. Space Perception and Binocular Vision
Chapter 7. Attention and Scene Perception
Chapter 8. Visual Motion Perception
Chapter 9. Hearing: Physiology and Psychoacoustics
Chapter 10. Hearing in the Environment
Chapter 11. Music and Speech Perception
Chapter 12. Vestibular Sensation
Chapter 13. Touch
Chapter 14. Taste
Chapter 15. Olfaction

Reviews

"This is one of the most complete texts of sensation and perception on the market. It includes great examples and recent research to help students understand one of the most important pieces of experimental psychology." - Adam Hutcheson, Georgia Gwinnet College

"This is the best perception book on the market. It has been honed through multiple editions and is up-to-date and clear without pandering." - Colin Ellard, University of Waterloo

"Sensation & Perception does a great job linking neurophysiology to behavior and perceptions. It also offers a good balance between neuroscience and cognitive psychology." - Dave Pittman, Wofford College

"Sensation & Perception is clearly-written, with well-placed examples and graphics to effectively demonstrate the components and the significance of perception. Students will like the succinctness and simplicity of the author's writing style." - T.C. Sim, Sam Houston State University