文档介绍:Perception and Illusion
Historical Perspectives
Library of the History of
Psychological Theories
Series Editor: Robert W. Rieber, City University of New York, New York, NY
PERCEPTION AND ILLUSION
Historical Perspectives
Nicholas J. Wade
A continuation Order Plan is available for this series. A continuation order will bring delivery
of each new volume immediately upon publication. Volumes are billed only upon actual
shipment. For further information please contact the publisher.
Perception and Illusion
Historical Perspectives
Nicholas J. Wade
University of Dundee
Dundee, United Kingdom
Springer
eBook ISBN: 0-387-22723-7
Print ISBN: 0-387-22722-9
©2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.
Print ©2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.
Dordrecht
All rights reserved
No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written consent from the Publisher
Created in the United States of America
Visit Springer's eBookstore at: http://ebooks.
and the Springer Global Website Online at:
To Daisy and Sam
This page intentionally left blank
Preface
Our contact with the world is through perception, and therefore the study
of the process is of obvious importance and significance. For much of
its long history, the study of perception has been confined to naturalis-
tic observation. heless, the phenomena considered worthy of note
have not been those that nurture our survival—the veridical features of
perception—but the oddities or departures from mon -
monplace accuracies of perception. With the move from the natural world
to the laboratory the oddities of perception multiplied, and they received
ever more detailed scrutiny.
My general intention is to examine the interpretations of the percep-
tual process and its errors throughout history. The emphasis on errors of
perception might appear to be a narrow approach, but in fact it -
passes vir