"Proposing a new paradigm for perceptual science that goes beyond standard information theory and digital computation.
Proposing a new paradigm for perceptual science that goes beyond standard information theory and digital computation.
This book breaks with the conventional model of perception that views vision as a mere inference to an objective reality on the basis of ""inverse optics."" The authors offer the alternative view that perception is an expressive and awareness-generating process. Perception creates semantic information in such a way as to enable the observer to deal efficaciously with the chaotic and meaningless structure present at the physical boundary between the body and its surroundings. Vision is intentional by its very nature; visual qualities are essential and real, providing an aesthetic and meaningful interface to the structures of physics and the state of the brain. This view brings perception firmly in line with ethology and modern evolutionary biology and suggests new approaches in all disciplines that study, or require an understanding of, the ontology of mind.
The book is the joint effort of a multidisciplinary group of authors. Topics covered include the relationships among stimuli, neuronal processes, and visual awareness. After considering the mind-dependent growing of information, the book treats time and dynamics; color, shape, and space; language and perception; perception, art, and design."
Preface vii Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Liliana Albertazzi, Gert J. van Tonder, and Dhanraj Vishwanath 1 Vision and Information 27 Jan J. Koenderink I Time and Dynamics 59 2 Riddle of the Past, Puzzle for the Future 61 Ilona Kovács 3 Extending Prägnanz: Dynamic Aspects of Mental Representation and Gestalt Principles 75 Timothy L. Hubbard 4 Informing through an Imperfect Retina 109 Gert J. van Tonder 5 Perceptual Organization in the Visual Cortex 137 Shinsuke Shimojo II Color, Shape, and Space 157 6 The Perception of Material Qualities and the Internal Semantics of the Perceptual System 159 Rainer Mausfeld 7 Visual Information in Surface and Depth Perception: Reconciling Pictures and Reality 201 Dhanraj Vishwanath 8 Good Continuation in Layers: Shading Flows, Color Flows, Surfaces, and Shadows 241 Ohad Ben-Shahar and Steven W. Zucker 9 Illusory Contours and Neon Color Spreading Reconsidered in the Light of Petter’s Rule 261 Baingio Pinna III Language and Perception 285 10 From Grouping to Visual Meanings: A New Theory of Perceptual Organization 287 Baingio Pinna and Liliana Albertazzi 11 The Perceptual Roots of Metaphor 345 Liliana Albertazzi IV Perception in Art, Design, and Computation 391 12 Becoming Information: Paul Cézanne and Prägnanz 393 Amy Ione 13 Becoming: Generative Art and the Production of Information 411 Ernest Edmonds Contributors 421 Author Index 423 Subject Index 435
Liliana Albertazzi is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Cognitive Science at Trento University, Italy. Gert J. van Tonder is Professor of Vision Research and Adjunct Professor at the Laboratory of Visual Psychology, Department of Architecture and Design, at Kyoto Institute of Technology. Dhanraj Vishwanath is RCUK (Research Councils UK) Academic Fellow in the School of Psychology at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
Reviews for Perception beyond Inference: The Information Content of Visual Processes
A truly novel contribution to the problem of perception and vision.... This excellent and demanding book opens up the door to a deeply informed attitude in cognitive science... By putting together such a rich collection of chapters, the editors have contributed to the renaissance of the autonomy and dignity of cognitive science.--Minds & Machines--
