Lectures on Perception: An Ecological Perspective

Lectures on Perception: An Ecological Perspective addresses the generic principles by which each and every kind of life form―from single celled organisms (e.g., difflugia) to multi-celled organisms (e.g., primates)―perceives the circumstances of their living so that they can behave adaptively. It focuses on the fundamental ability that relates each and every organism to its surroundings, namely, the ability to perceive things in the sense of how to get about among them and what to do, or not to do, with them. The book’s core thesis breaks from the conventional interpretation of perception as a form of abduction based on innate hypotheses and acquired knowledge, and from the historical scientific focus on the perceptual abilities of animals, most especially those abilities ascribed to humankind. Specifically, it advances the thesis of perception as a matter of laws and principles at nature’s ecological scale, and gives equal theoretical consideration to the perceptual achievements of all of the classically defined ‘kingdoms’ of organisms―Archaea, Bacteria, Protoctista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia.

Michael T. Turvey is Board of Trustees' Distinguished Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Connecticut and a Senior Scientist at Haskins Laboratories in Connecticut. He is the recipient of Guggenheim and Catell Fellowships, the American Psychological Association Early Career Award, Fellow of Society of Experimental Psychologists (SEP), Bernstein 2009 Prize in Motor Control, SEP Lifetime Achievement Award, Association for Psychological Science Lifetime Mentor Award, and two honorary doctorates.