http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1610156

Theories of perception and the concept of structure : a review and critical analysis with an introduction to a dynamic-structural theory of behaviour

"This book represents an effort to survey carefully the contributions that modern psychologists have made to the theory of perception and to canvass the state of our knowledge of the important process by which organisms gain an understanding of, and a basis for reacting to, the world in which they live. It is hoped that it may help to bring some clarification into this confused field and that possibly, to some extent, it may be of aid in the present complex and uncertain state of psychological theory in general. But, as intimated in the Preface, there was another purpose, at least equally impelling, for which the book was written. It is the first installment in the carrying out of a more comprehensive plan, of whose nature the reader should be informed. The immediate plan, then, is to present an exposition and critical analysis of the major theories of perception, bringing out as clearly as possible their respective achievements, their limitations, and their relationship to the theme discussed above. Throughout the review an effort will be made to show the structural implications of the various systems, how they dealt with the problem, where they succeeded or failed, and the possible bearing of their successes or failures upon their explanatory achievements or their limitations. Tentative quasistructural interpretations will be introduced along the way, and in the last two chapters the discussion will draw these together and will suggest what they, together with the contributions from the various theories, can offer toward the formulation of a general structural point of view. In the final chapter the writer will give a preliminary statement of his own theory of structure; and an effort will be made to apply this formulation to the data and problems of perception as they have come to light throughout the book"--Foreword. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

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