Theoretical Issues and Controversies in the Field of Perception
J. J. Gibson, Cornell University; January 1962
The World Wide Web distribution of James Gibson's "Purple Perils" is for scholarly use with the understanding that Gibson did not intend them for publication. References to these essays must cite them explicitly as unpublished manuscripts. Copies may be circulated if this statement is included on each copy.
Space and Form Perception
1. Is the third dimension lost in optical stimulation (Berkeley,
Helmholtz, Brunswik) or is it specified therein (multiple gradient
theory)?
2. Are the distal stimuli of the world to be taken for granted in theories of
perception (realism) or are they to be explained by theories
of perception (Cantril, Ittelson)? Can objects, in fact, be specified by their
stimuli or not (Ames demonstrations)?
3. Are perspective impressions relevant to a theory of space
perception or irrelevant? (Boring-Gibson controversy, Psych. Rev., 59,
1952). Also, what is "invariant" in perception?
4. What is the stimulus for an optical system? Ray-optics (textbooks)
vs. ecological optics (paper in Vision Research, 1, 1961).
5. What is fundamental for the "organization" of visual perception? Figure -
ground hypothesis (Koffa, Principles) vs. the structure - of - light
hypothesis (Gibson, What is a form?, Psych. Rev., 58, 1951, and other
references).
Physiological Basis for Perception
6. Field - theory (Köhler) vs. neuron theory (various
references, including Hebb).
7. Are visual aftereffects always figural (Köhler and
Wallach) or are they often negative (Ivo Kohler, Gibson)?
8. Is sense - perception an active process of search or a passive
process of registration? (references to be supplied). What
is active and what is passive? What are the
"potential stimuli" for the senses?
Perception and Learning
9. Does association play an essential or a secondary
role in perception? Enrichment vs. differentiation (Postman-Gibson
controversy, Psych. Rev., 62, 1955).
10. Is perception based on sensation? if so, what is the process? If not, what
is the use of sensation? (For the resolution of this dilemma, consider whether
there exist sensationless perceptions. Also, whether perception can occur without
sensory excitation.)
11. Does perception develop by the intellectualization of original
experience (Piaget) or by the evolution of primitive differences into elaborate
and subtle differences? (Various theorists).
12. If perception depends on the traces of past experience, where is the dividing
line between perceiving and remembering? (Wallach vs. Gibson
on motion perception. Trace memory vs. transformation theory.
Cf. also Wm. James on perception and memory).
General Issues
13. Do optical illusions embody laws of perception, or result
merely from conflicting stimulus information? (Wertheimer, Köhler, Koffka
vs. theory of "informative" stimuli).
14. Is meaning acquired or registered? Theories
of association, memory, attitude or conditioning (Hume, Pavlov, Osgood, etc.)
vs. a theory of direct apprehension (Michotte, Gibson, and
others). Cf. the concept of "raw stimuli" in Woodworth, Dynamics).
15. If the senses convey information do they carry it directly or only in "coded"
form? (Application of the mathematical theory of communication to the senses).
16. Continuity vs. discontinuity theory of discrimination.
Insight theory vs. association theory of problem-solving.
17. Do animals respond to relative or to absolute
stimuli? The "transposition" controversy. Are stimuli punctate entities
(Spence) or relations? May one infer perception of a difference
without evidence that the animal can respond separately to the objects that
differ?
18. The Gottschaldt controversy. Sensory organization vs. past experience as
the explanation of perception.
19. The "nativism" controversy. Do "releasers" or "innate perception inlets"
exist with infants or animals?
20. How can perceptual learning involve at once a reduction
of stimulation - generalization, and an increase in the "generalization"
of stimulus? Do particularization and abstraction
go together in development; if so how?
21. Do we learn by adjusting to probabilities or uncertain contingencies (Skinner,
et al.) or by insight for the laws of the natural environment, and the "ecological
validity" of cues?
22. Graham vs. Garner. Is perception merely a special form
of behavior, or not? Also, does perception necessarily mediate
behavior or not?
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