When we look at the world with our eyes, do we see it as it really is? In this authoritative study the Professor of Psychology at the University of Reading shows how, behind the retina of the eye, many more fallible mental processes cause errors and inconsistencies to creep into our perceptions. Here is a non-technical outline of the psychological processes which have been shown to be involved in our visual perceptions of things around us. These perceptions of shape, colour, movement, and space develop gradually from infancy upwards. Finally this book, which is based on over thirty years of psychological research at Cambridge and elsewhere, shows how the perceptions of different people are not always like: they vary with attention, interest, and individual personality factors.

CONTENTS:
1. WHAT DO WE PERCEIVE?
2. HOW THE CHILD LEARNS TO PERCEIVE THE WORLD AROUND HIM
3. THE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTS BY ADULTS
4. THE PERCEPTION OF SHAPE BY ADULTS
5. THE PERCEPTION OF COLOUR
6. THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHAPE AND COLOUR PERCEPTION IN CHILDREN
7. THE PERCEPTION OF SPECIAL TYPES OF MATERIAL
8. THE PERCEPTION OF SPACE
9. THE PERCEPTION OF MOVEMENT
10. ATTENTION AND PERCEPTION
11. THE RELATION TO PERCEPTION OF MOTIVATION AND EMOTION
12. PERCEPTUAL TYPES AND THEIR RELATION TO PERSONALITY
13. CONCLUSION