Table of Contents

PrefaceChapter 1. IntroductionWelcome to Our WorldSensation and PerceptionThresholds and the Dawn of PsychophysicsPsychophysical MethodsScaling MethodsSignal Detection TheoryFourier AnalysisSensory Neuroscience and the Biology of PerceptionNeuronal ConnectionsNeural Firing: The Action PotentialNeuroimagingDevelopment over the Life SpanSummaryChapter 2. The First Steps in Vision: From Light to Neural SignalsA Little Light PhysicsEyes That Capture LightFocusing Light onto the RetinaThe RetinaWhat the Doctor SawRetinal Geography and FunctionDark and Light AdaptationPupil SizePhotopigment RegenerationBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: When Good Retina Goes BadThe Duplex RetinaNeural CircuitryRetinal Information ProcessingLight Transduction by Rod and Cone PhotoreceptorsLateral Inhibition through Horizontal and Amacrine CellsConvergence and Divergence of Information via Bipolar CellsCommunicating to the Brain via Ganglion CellsBox: Scientists at Work: Is One Photon Enough to See?SummaryChapter 3. Spatial Vision: From Spots to StripesVisual Acuity: Oh Say, Can You See?A Visit to the Eye DoctorMore Types of Visual AcuityAcuity for Low-Contrast StripesWhy Sine Wave Gratings?Retinal Ganglion Cells and StripesThe Lateral Geniculate NucleusThe Striate CortexThe Topography of the Human CortexSome Perceptual Consequences of Cortical MagnificationReceptive Fields in Striate CortexOrientation SelectivityOther Receptive-Field PropertiesSimple and Complex CellsFurther ComplicationsColumns and HypercolumnsSelective Adaptation: The Psychologist's ElectrodeThe Site of Selective Adaptation EffectsSpatial Frequency-Tuned Pattern Analyzers in Human VisionThe Development of VisionBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: The Girl Who Almost Couldn't See StripesDevelopment of the Contrast Sensitivity FunctionBox: Scientists at Work: Does the Duck's Left Eye Know What the Right Eye Saw?SummaryChapter 4. Perceiving and Recognizing ObjectsFrom Simple Lines and Edges to Properties of ObjectsBox: Scientists at Work: Rudiger von der Heydt, Border Ownership, and TransparencyWhat and Where PathwaysThe Problems of Perceiving and Recognizing ObjectsMid-level VisionFinding EdgesTexture Segmentation and GroupingFigure and GroundDealing with OcclusionParts and WholesSummarizing Mid-level VisionFrom Metaphor to Formal ModelBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: Material Perception: The Everyday Problem of Knowing What It Is Made OfObject RecognitionMultiple Recognition Committees?Faces: An Illustrative Special CaseSummaryChapter 5. The Perception of ColorBasic Principles of Color PerceptionThree Steps to Color PerceptionStep 1: Color DetectionStep 2: Color DiscriminationThe Principle of UnivarianceThe Trichromatic SolutionMetamersThe History of Trichromatic TheoryA Brief Digression into Lights, Filters, and Finger PaintsFrom Retina to Brain: Repackaging the InformationCone-Opponent Cells in the Retina and LGNA Different Ganglion Cell Helps to Keep Track of Day and NightStep 3: Color AppearanceThree Numbers, Many ColorsBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: Picking ColorsThe Limits of the RainbowOpponent ColorsColor in the Visual CortexIndividual Differences in Color PerceptionLanguage and ColorGenetic Differences in Color VisionFrom the Color of Lights to a World of ColorAdaptation and AfterimagesColor ConstancyThe Problem with the IlluminantPhysical Constraints Make Constancy PossibleWhat Is Color Vision Good For?Box: Scientists at Work: Filtering ColorsSummaryChapter 6. Space Perception and Binocular VisionMonocular Cues to Three-Dimensional SpacePictorial Depth CuesOcclusionSize and Position CuesAerial PerspectiveLinear PerspectiveSeeing Depth in PicturesTriangulation Cues to Three-Dimensional SpaceMotion CuesAccommodation and ConvergenceBinocular Vision and StereopsisStereoscopes and StereogramsBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: Recovering Stereo VisionRandom Dot StereogramsUsing StereopsisStereoscopic CorrespondenceThe Physiological Basis of Stereopsis and Depth PerceptionCombining Depth CuesThe Bayesian Approach RevisitedIllusions and the Construction of SpaceBinocular Rivalry and SuppressionDevelopment of Binocular Vision and StereopsisAbnormal Visual Experience Can Disrupt Binocular VisionBox: Scientists at Work: Stereopsis in a Hunting InsectSummaryChapter 7. Attention and Scene PerceptionSelection in SpaceThe "Spotlight" of AttentionVisual SearchFeature Searches Are EfficientMany Searches Are InefficientIn Real-World Searches, Basic Features Guide Visual SearchIn Real-World Searches, Properties of Scenes Guide Visual SearchThe Binding Problem in Visual SearchAttending in Time: RSVP and the Attentional BlinkThe Physiological Basis of AttentionAttention Could Enhance Neural ActivityAttention Could Enhance the Processing of a Specific Type of StimulusAttention and Single CellsAttention May Change the Way Neurons Talk to Each OtherDisorders of Visual AttentionNeglectExtinctionBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: Selective Attention and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)Perceiving and Understanding ScenesTwo Pathways to Scene PerceptionThe Nonselective Pathway Computes Ensemble StatisticsThe Nonselective Pathway Computes Scene Gist and Layout--Very QuicklyBox: Scientists at Work: Do Ensembles Make Gists?Memory for Objects and Scenes Is Amazingly GoodBut, Memory for Objects and Scenes Can Be Amazingly Bad: Change BlindnessWhat Do We Actually See?SummaryChapter 8. Visual Motion PerceptionMotion AftereffectsComputation of Visual MotionApparent MotionThe Correspondence Problem--Viewing through an ApertureDetection of Global Motion in Area MTBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: The Man Who Couldn't See MotionSecond-Order MotionMotion Induced Blindness (MIB)Using Motion InformationGoing with the Flow: Using Motion Information to NavigateAvoiding Imminent Collision: The Tao of TauSomething in the Way You Move: Using Motion Information to Identify ObjectsEye MovementsPhysiology and Types of Eye MovementsEye Movements and ReadingSaccadic Suppression and the ComparatorUpdating the Neural Mechanisms for Eye Movement CompensationDevelopment of Motion PerceptionBox: Scientists at Work: Guess Who's Coming to DinnerSummaryChapter 9. Hearing: Physiology and PsychoacousticsThe Function of HearingWhat Is Sound?Basic Qualities of Sound Waves: Frequency and AmplitudeSine Waves and Complex SoundsBasic Structure of the Mammalian Auditory SystemOuter EarMiddle EarInner EarThe Auditory NerveAuditory Brain StructuresBasic Operating Characteristics of the Auditory SystemIntensity and LoudnessBox: Scientists at Work: Why Don't Manatees Get Out of the Way When a Boat Is Coming?Frequency and PitchHearing LossTreating Hearing LossUsing versus Detecting SoundBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: Electronic EarsSummaryChapter 10. Hearing in the EnvironmentSound LocalizationInteraural Time DifferenceInteraural Level DifferenceCones of ConfusionPinnae and Head CuesBox: Scientists at Work: Vulcan EarsAuditory Distance PerceptionSpatial Hearing When BlindComplex SoundsHarmonicsTimbreBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: Auditory "Color" ConstancyAttack and DecayAuditory Scene AnalysisSpatial, Spectral, and Temporal SegregationGrouping by TimbreGrouping by OnsetWhen Sounds Become FamiliarContinuity and Restoration EffectsRestoration of Complex SoundsAuditory AttentionSummaryChapter 11. Music and Speech PerceptionMusicMusical NotesBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: Music and EmotionMaking MusicSpeechSpeech ProductionSpeech PerceptionBox: Scientists at Work: Tickling the CochleaLearning to ListenSpeech in the BrainSummaryChapter 12. Vestibular SensationVestibular ContributionsEvolutionary Development and Vestibular SensationModalities and Qualities of Spatial OrientationSensing Angular Motion, Linear Motion, and TiltBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: The Vestibular System, Virtual Reality, and Motion SicknessBasic Qualities of Spatial Orientation: Amplitude and DirectionThe Vestibular PeripheryHair Cells: Mechanical TransducersSemicircular CanalsOtolith OrgansSpatial Orientation PerceptionRotation PerceptionTranslation PerceptionTilt PerceptionSensory IntegrationVisual-Vestibular IntegrationActive SensingReflexive Vestibular ResponsesVestibulo-Ocular ResponsesVestibulo-Autonomic ResponsesVestibulo-Spinal ResponsesSpatial Orientation CortexVestibular Thalamocortical PathwaysCortical InfluencesWhen the Vestibular System Goes BadFalls and Vestibular FunctionMal de Debarquement SyndromeMeniere's SyndromeBox: Scientists at Work: Vestibular AgingBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: Amusement Park Rides--Vestibular Physics Is FunSummaryChapter 13. TouchTouch PhysiologyTouch ReceptorsFrom Skin to BrainPainBox: Scientists at Work: Tickling RatsTactile Sensitivity and AcuityHow Sensitive Are We to Mechanical Pressure?How Finely Can We Resolve Spatial Details?How Finely Can We Resolve Temporal Details?Do People Differ in Tactile Sensitivity?Haptic PerceptionPerception for ActionAction for PerceptionThe What System of Touch: Perceiving Objects and Their PropertiesThe Where System of Touch: Locating ObjectsTactile Spatial AttentionSocial TouchInteractions between Touch and Other ModalitiesBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: Haptic Simulation for Surgical TrainingSummaryChapter 14. OlfactionOlfactory PhysiologyOdors and OdorantsThe Human Olfactory ApparatusBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: AnosmiaNeurophysiology of OlfactionThe Genetic Basis of Olfactory ReceptorsThe Feel of ScentFrom Chemicals to SmellsTheories of Olfactory PerceptionThe Importance of PatternsIs Odor Perception Synthetic or Analytical?The Power of SniffingOdor ImageryOlfactory Psychophysics, Identification, and AdaptationDetection, Discrimination, and RecognitionPsychophysical Methods for Detection and DiscriminationIdentificationIndividual DifferencesBox: Scientists at Work: A New Test to Diagnose Parkinson's DiseaseAdaptationCognitive HabituationOlfactory HedonicsFamiliarity and IntensityNature or Nurture?An Evolutionary ArgumentCaveatsAssociative Learning and Emotion: Neuroanatomical and Evolutionary ConsiderationsThe Vomeronasal Organ, Human Pheromones, and ChemosignalsBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: Odor-Evoked Memory and the Truth behind AromatherapySummaryChapter 15. TasteTaste versus FlavorLocalizing Flavor SensationsBox: Sensation & Perception in Everyday Life: Volatile-Enhanced Taste: A New Way to Safely Alter FlavorsAnatomy and Physiology of the Gustatory SystemTaste Myth: The Tongue MapTaste Buds and Taste Receptor CellsExtraoral Locations for Taste ReceptorsTaste Processing in the Central Nervous SystemThe Four Basic Tastes?SaltySourBitterSweetAre There More Than Four Basic Tastes? Does It Matter?UmamiFatGenetic Variation in BitterSupertastersHealth Consequences of Variation in Taste SensationsHow Do Taste and Flavor Contribute to the Regulation of Nutrients?TasteBox: Scientists at Work: The Role of Food Preferences in Food ChoicesFlavorIs All Olfactory Affect Learned?The Nature of Taste QualitiesTaste Adaptation and Cross-AdaptationPleasure and Retronasal versus Orthonasal OlfactionThe Pleasure of the Burn of Chili PeppersSummaryGlossaryReferencesPhoto CreditsIndex

About the Author

Jeremy M. Wolfe is Professor of Ophthalmology & Radiology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Wolfe was trained as a vision researcher/experimental psychologist and remains one today. His early work includes papers on binocular vision, adaptation, and accommodation. The bulk of his recent work has dealt with visual search and visual attention in the lab and in real world settings such as airport security and cancer screening. He taught Introductory Psychology for over twenty-five years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he won the Baker Memorial Prize for undergraduate teaching in 1989. He directs the Visual Attention Lab and the Center for Advanced Medical Imaging of Brigham & Women's Hospital.Keith R. Kluender is Professor and Head of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and Professor of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University. His research encompasses: how people hear complex sounds such as speech; how experience shapes the way we hear; how what we hear guides our actions and communication; clinical problems of hearing impairment or language delay; and practical concerns about computer speech recognition and hearing aid design. Dr. Kluender is deeply committed to teaching, and has taught a wide array of courses--philosophical, psychological, and physiological.Dennis M. Levi has taught at the University of California, Berkeley since 2001. He is Professor in the School of Optometry and Professor at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. In the lab, Dr. Levi and colleagues use psychophysics, computational modelling, and brain imaging (fMRI) to study the neural mechanisms of normal pattern vision in humans, and to learn how they are degraded by abnormal visual experience (amblyopia).Linda M. Bartoshuk is Bushnell Professor, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Florida. Her research on taste has opened up broad new avenues for further study, establishing the impact of both genetic and pathological variation in taste on food preferences, diet, and health. She discovered that taste normally inhibits other oral sensations such that damage to taste leads to unexpected consequences like weight gain and intensified oral pain. Most recently, working with colleagues in Horticulture, her group found that a considerable amount of the sweetness in fruit is actually produced by interactions between taste and olfaction in the brain. This may lead to a new way to reduce sugar in foods and beverages.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 Department at Boston College. Her research focuses on a number of facets of olfactory cognition and perception and on emotion, memory, and motivated behaviour. Her current research also focuses on the sensory and psychological mechanisms underlying food perception and eating behaviour. Using an experimental approach grounded in evolutionary theory and incorporating both cognitive behavioural and neuropsychological techniques, Dr. Herz's overarching aim is to understand how biological mechanisms and cognitive processes interact to influence human perception and behaviour.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. She has done extensive research on haptic and visual object recognition, space perception and spatial thinking, and motor performance. Her work has application to haptic interfaces, navigation aids for the blind, image-guided surgery, teleoperation, and virtual environments.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. Much of his research career has been spent studying how the brain combines information from multiple sources, with a specific focus on how the brain processes ambiguous sensory information from the vestibular system in the presence of noise. Translational work includes research developing new methods to help diagnose patients experiencing vestibular symptoms and research developing vestibular implants for patients who have severe problems with their vestibular labyrinth.