review-sensation-perception | Assignments Mathematics

Perception, 2015, volume 44, pages 470 – 472

doi:10.1068/p4404rvw

Reviews

Sensation and perception by J Harris; Sage, London, 2014, 520 pages, £120.00 cloth, £39.99 paper

(US $175.00, $69.00) ISBN 9780857020635, 9780857020642

For undergraduate students (like myself), reading a textbook on sensation and perception can be like

pulling teeth. Students can easily become overwhelmed by in-depth technical descriptions, resulting

in needless frustration and disinterest, so that they then avoid the appropriate shelves in the library,

never to look at perception processes and research ever again.

Sensation and Perception addresses this problem, aiming to engage the student by being informative,

colourful, and entertaining. At the same time, it challenges the reader to get an understanding of the

underlying methodological and scientific issues fundamental to perception research.

Within the first few chapters, it becomes abundantly clear that the author draws on his experience,

having taught perception for over 20 years, to capture the attention of the reader and keep them motivated.

The student-friendly, yet academic, writing style, and the enthusiasm with which explanations and

concepts are presented, not only allow a good understanding of perception processes but also convey a

feeling of the author’s passion and commitment towards perception research, making the at first rather

tedious-appearing subject area stimulating and fun to learn about.

With the scope of coverage exceeding that of most other sensation and perception textbooks, the

16 chapters are broken down into five main parts, addressing foundations and investigative research

techniques; the visual, auditory, and chemical senses; and somatosensory perception. Furthermore,

it gives an explanation of how the world is perceived, relating to perception of attractiveness, emotions,

and the recognition of faces, and also including changes in perception, such as changes over the life

span and pathologies. This latter part in particular is a novelty, not frequently seen in other perception

textbooks.

Each chapter begins with a range of introductory questions, which are then discussed throughout

the chapter. Examples such as “Are headphones better than loudspeakers?” (page 4) or “Can we

experience the pain of our loved ones?” (page 204) not only signpost the topics covered but also

motivate and encourage the reader to learn more about that topic by capturing their attention with

questions that are of interest to the student population and modern-day society. The answers to these

introductory questions are highlighted appropriately in the text and, to some extent, are summarised

in ‘key point’ sections. However, there is a lack of consistency, as answers to these questions are not

flagged for chapters 7, 8, 12, 13, and 14 as for the remaining chapters, which could lead to confusion

as the reader might already develop an expectation about these highlighted passages.

Each chapter closes with an overview, presenting the current state and gaps of knowledge about

a topic, and a chapter summary, together with self-assessed test questions and suggestions for further

reading, which consist—to my pleasant surprise—mainly of journal articles, referring only occasionally

to a book.

Next to several colour illustrations, the author, again, places emphasis on detailed presentations

of scientific studies, which are incorporated and numerously referenced throughout the text and in

special ‘key/case-study’ sections. This is particularly useful in helping students to evaluate claims of

journal articles.

The importance of gaining a good understanding of scientific research studies is elaborated further

in the “Thinking about research” sections, giving the reader an opportunity to design a research study

based on the material presented in each chapter and also to think about possible ethical issues raised.

From a student perspective, these exercise options are utterly excellent, as they stimulate an individual’s

critical thinking, raising issues of questions left unanswered in the current research literature. This is

not only a valued and assessed skill at universities, but is also essential for employers, and therefore

of substantial relevance. To my disappointment, possible solutions of research designs are not given

or attached. In my opinion, it would be very useful to offer at least one example for the purpose of

comparison.

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Perception, 2015, volume 44, pages 470 – 472 doi:10.1068/p4404rvw

Reviews

Sensation and perception by J Harris; Sage, London, 2014, 520 pages, £120.00 cloth, £39.99 paper (US $175.00, $69.00) ISBN 9780857020635, 9780857020642 For undergraduate students (like myself), reading a textbook on sensation and perception can be like pulling teeth. Students can easily become overwhelmed by in-depth technical descriptions, resulting in needless frustration and disinterest, so that they then avoid the appropriate shelves in the library, never to look at perception processes and research ever again. Sensation and Perception addresses this problem, aiming to engage the student by being informative, colourful, and entertaining. At the same time, it challenges the reader to get an understanding of the underlying methodological and scientific issues fundamental to perception research. Within the first few chapters, it becomes abundantly clear that the author draws on his experience, having taught perception for over 20 years, to capture the attention of the reader and keep them motivated. The student-friendly, yet academic, writing style, and the enthusiasm with which explanations and concepts are presented, not only allow a good understanding of perception processes but also convey a feeling of the author’s passion and commitment towards perception research, making the at first rather tedious-appearing subject area stimulating and fun to learn about. With the scope of coverage exceeding that of most other sensation and perception textbooks, the 16 chapters are broken down into five main parts, addressing foundations and investigative research techniques; the visual, auditory, and chemical senses; and somatosensory perception. Furthermore, it gives an explanation of how the world is perceived, relating to perception of attractiveness, emotions, and the recognition of faces, and also including changes in perception, such as changes over the life span and pathologies. This latter part in particular is a novelty, not frequently seen in other perception textbooks. Each chapter begins with a range of introductory questions, which are then discussed throughout the chapter. Examples such as “Are headphones better than loudspeakers?” (page 4) or “Can we experience the pain of our loved ones?” (page 204) not only signpost the topics covered but also motivate and encourage the reader to learn more about that topic by capturing their attention with questions that are of interest to the student population and modern-day society. The answers to these introductory questions are highlighted appropriately in the text and, to some extent, are summarised in ‘key point’ sections. However, there is a lack of consistency, as answers to these questions are not flagged for chapters 7, 8, 12, 13, and 14 as for the remaining chapters, which could lead to confusion as the reader might already develop an expectation about these highlighted passages. Each chapter closes with an overview, presenting the current state and gaps of knowledge about a topic, and a chapter summary, together with self-assessed test questions and suggestions for further reading, which consist—to my pleasant surprise—mainly of journal articles, referring only occasionally to a book. Next to several colour illustrations, the author, again, places emphasis on detailed presentations of scientific studies, which are incorporated and numerously referenced throughout the text and in special ‘key/case-study’ sections. This is particularly useful in helping students to evaluate claims of journal articles. The importance of gaining a good understanding of scientific research studies is elaborated further in the “Thinking about research” sections, giving the reader an opportunity to design a research study based on the material presented in each chapter and also to think about possible ethical issues raised. From a student perspective, these exercise options are utterly excellent, as they stimulate an individual’s critical thinking, raising issues of questions left unanswered in the current research literature. This is not only a valued and assessed skill at universities, but is also essential for employers, and therefore of substantial relevance. To my disappointment, possible solutions of research designs are not given or attached. In my opinion, it would be very useful to offer at least one example for the purpose of comparison.

Reviews 471 However, from a student’s viewpoint, a more pressing problem is a lack of highlighted definitions of key terms within the chapter, which are usually seen in textbooks and are highly appreciated by students. Developing a knowledge of the underlying key terms is absolutely fundamental for the under- standing of concepts and processes in perception. Even though key terms are defined within the text, it would be more helpful for students, especially in terms of revision, to look at only the definition of terms, rather than reading the whole chapter. At least a glossary of key terms, attached to the end of the book, would have been appreciated. Furthermore, conclusions such as “Endogenous attention changes contrast gain whereas endogenous attention also changes response gain” (page 373), where the latter should be referring to exogenous attention, could lead to confusion. This is especially true when stated in ‘key point’ sections (as in the above example), as these are important sections that students will concentrate on. That being said, within the context of the overall utility of the book, these issues are of minor importance, and perhaps I’m being too critical or perhaps even a little too cynical. The truth is that Sensation and Perception is an exceptional textbook for any undergraduate student, at any level, having to deal with perception research. Especially with neuropsychology as such a popular discipline among students, it’s great that the book also gives descriptions of the ways in which brain areas—for example, V or the prefrontal cortex—are implicated in perceptual processes, alongside useful neuropsychological research studies. Sensation and Perception , however, is not only linked to biological psychology but also interconnects with areas of cognitive (eg theoretical approaches to perception, and bottom-up and top-down processes in perception), social (eg attraction), and developmental (eg development of vision and hearing over the life-span) psychology, making the textbook exceptionally exciting and rewarding for any undergraduate psychology student in a variety of ways. Sensation and Perception would be a formidable addition to any recommended reading list, not only for undergraduate students within a psychology degree but also as a useful reference or key textbook for their supervisors. I totally enjoyed reading it! Olivia D Vatmanides, Bath Spa University, UK; e-mail: [email protected]

One of the issues that I am finding increasingly apparent—and worrisome—as a university lecturer, is that students sometimes struggle to make the connection between psychological theory and methodology. This becomes a particular concern when they reach their final year of study, a substantial component of which here in the UK involves an individual research project. There’s nothing scary about experimental work, but perhaps there needs to be a clearer link between the theory that we teach in lectures and how we might go about collecting data relevant to that theory. I was therefore extremely pleased to see that one of the goals stated in the preface of John Harris’s new textbook, Sensation and Perception , is to address exactly this issue. Throughout the book, great care is taken to guide the reader through the types of experimental methods that allow us to investigate the human sensory and perceptual experience. Starting from a full chapter devoted to the measurement of perception at the outset, Harris develops this understanding in each subsequent chapter through content- specific examples of experiments—exploring anything from the perception of first- and second-order motion, to the influence of colour on the perception of condoms. Of course, grounding students in an understanding of experimental methods isn’t much use if they aren’t interested in the topic in the first place, and this belies a common difficulty that textbooks on perception have to deal with: presenting theoretical information to an appropriate level of depth and complexity so as to be useful and interesting, without becoming so stuffy so as to disengage the reader in the process. Sensation and Perception manages a fairly balanced approach to this problem. As far as textbooks go, it doesn’t hold back on exposing the reader to a wide range of difficult topics—chapter 1 alone covers motion perception, camouflage, synaesthesia, and how to measure luminance. Yet at no point do you feel overwhelmed with information; there is a clear and logical progression of information both throughout each chapter and between each chapter. This is supplemented by short case studies, frequent topic summaries, and, later on in the book, discussions about controversies that exist within the research literature. This latter point is particularly nice to see, as it really feels as though Harris is trying to bring a true sense of what it’s like to engage in scientific research to the reader.

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