ABSTRACT

This chapter deals with the relations between those we consider to be the most important theories of perception that have emerged in scientific psychology, and the concreteness of the phenomena that occur when people perceive environments. It is a rather complex, very articulate and broad topic that concerns vision but also other channels and modalities. The relevant psychological literature that has mounted over the last three centuries is vast, given that perception phenomena and processes have so far been the field most dealt with by experimenters and theorists. Our task has thus been quite arduous and we have had to make certain choices and some exclusions. The exposition has been summarised a great deal, and we have prioritised the reference to classical or recent observations and experiments that demonstrate the effectiveness of an integrated approach of dynamic orientation. Other previous or parallel theories of a more limited kind, as we shall see, do not seem able to comprehensively explain the wealth of environmental experience.