Perceiving, Acting and Knowing

Originally published in 1977, the chapters in this volume derive from a conference on Perceiving, Acting and Knowing held by the Center for Research in Human Learning at the University of Minnesota in 1973. The volume was intended to appeal, not just to the specialist or the novice, but to anyone sufficiently interested in psychology to have obtained a sense of its history at the time. Through these essays the authors express a collective attitude that a careful scrutiny of the fundamental tenets of contemporary psychology may be needed. In some essays specific faults in the foundations of an area are discussed, and suggestions are made for remedying them. In other essays the authors flirt with more radical solutions, namely, beginning from new foundations altogether. Although the authors do not present a monolithic viewpoint, a careful reading of all their essays under one cover reveals a glimpse of a new framework by which theory and research may be guided.

Robert Shaw, John Bransford

Preface 1. Introduction: Psychological Approaches to the Problem of Knowledge Robert Shaw and John Bransford Part 1: Perception, Action and Development Section A: Perceiving Our World 2. James J. Gibson's Strategy for Perceiving: Ask Not What's Inside Your Head, But What Your Head's Inside of William M. Mace 3. The Theory of Affordances James J. Gibson 4. Some Comments on the Nature of the Perceived Universe Karl H. Pribram 5. Perceiving the Face of Change in Changing Faces: Implications for a Theory of Object Perception Robert Shaw and John Pittenger Section B: Developing Knowledge 6. Visual Attention and Sensibility Marcus Hester 7. The Development of Thought: On Perceiving and Knowing Peter B. Pufall 8. The Mechanics of Growth and Adaptive Change Michael Cunningham Section C: Acting and Perceiving 9. Preliminaries to a Theory of Action with Reference to Vision M.T. Turvey 10. A Conceptual Framework for Cognitive Psychology: Motor Theories of the Mind Walter B. Weimer Part 2: Language and Knowing Section A: Knowing Through Language 11. Speech and the Problem of Perceptual Constance Donald Shankweiler, Winifred Strange and Robert Verbrugge 12. Disorganization in Thought and Word Michael P. Maratsos 13. Resemblances in Language and Perception Robert R. Verbrugge Section B: Accessing Knowledge 14. How to Catch A Zebra in Semantic Memory Elizabeth F. Loftus 15. Remember that Old Theory of Memory? Well, Forget it! James J. Jenkins 16. Toward Unexplaining Memory John D. Bransford, Nancy S. McCarrell, Jeffrey J. Franks and Kathleen E. Nitsch. Author Index. Subject Index.