Psychology of Touch and Blindness

Psychology of Touch and Blindness PDF Author: Morton A. Heller
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1134521596
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
This book reviews the considerable body of research that has been done to evaluate the touch skills of blind people. With an emphasis on cognitive and neuroscientific approaches, it encompasses a wide-ranging discussion of the theoretical issues in the field of touch perception and blindness. The volume includes chapters on sensory aspects of touch, perception in blind individuals, multimodal relations and their implications for instruction and development, and new technology, including sensory aids and virtual touch. A distinctive feature of the book is the inclusion of the practical applications of research in this area. A significant characteristic of research on touch and imagery in congenitally blind individuals is that it speaks to the basic nature of spatial imagery and the importance and necessity -- or lack thereof -- of specific visual sensory experience for the acquisition of knowledge about space, spatial layout, and picture perception. As such, the book will not only appeal to researchers and professionals with an interest in touch and blindness, but also to a wider audience of cognitive psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists working in the field of perception.

The Psychology of Touch

The Psychology of Touch PDF Author: Morton A. Heller
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780805807516
Category : Psychophysiology
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
First Published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Psychology of Touch and Blindness

Psychology of Touch and Blindness PDF Author: Morton A. Heller
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1134521669
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
This book reviews the considerable body of research that has been done to evaluate the touch skills of blind people. With an emphasis on cognitive and neuroscientific approaches, it encompasses a wide-ranging discussion of the theoretical issues in the field of touch perception and blindness. The volume includes chapters on sensory aspects of touch, perception in blind individuals, multimodal relations and their implications for instruction and development, and new technology, including sensory aids and virtual touch. A distinctive feature of the book is the inclusion of the practical applications of research in this area. A significant characteristic of research on touch and imagery in congenitally blind individuals is that it speaks to the basic nature of spatial imagery and the importance and necessity -- or lack thereof -- of specific visual sensory experience for the acquisition of knowledge about space, spatial layout, and picture perception. As such, the book will not only appeal to researchers and professionals with an interest in touch and blindness, but also to a wider audience of cognitive psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists working in the field of perception.

Touch and Blindness

Touch and Blindness PDF Author: Morton A. Heller
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1135619301
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
Research on touch and blindness has undergone rapid transformation in recent years, with dramatic developments in technology designed to provide assistance to those who are blind, and advancements in robotics that demand haptic interfaces. Touch and Blindness approaches the study of the topic from the perspectives of psychological methodology and the most sophisticated, state-of-the-art techniques in neuroscience. This book, edited by well-known leaders in the field, is derived from the discussions presented by speakers at a conference held in 2002, and presents current research in the field. The book is arranged in a logical, disciplinary fashion, first discussing touch and blindness from a psychological perspective, followed by an examination from the perspective of neuroscience. Some specific topics include: *processing spatial information from touch and movement; *form, projection, and pictures for the blind; *neural substrate and visual and tactile object representations; and *the role of visual cortex in tactile processing. Touch and Blindness is ideal for researchers in psychology and neuroscience, medicine, and special education.

Blindness and Brain Plasticity in Navigation and Object Perception

Blindness and Brain Plasticity in Navigation and Object Perception PDF Author: John J. Rieser
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 0805855513
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 446

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Book Description
This book features chapters from cognitive and developmental psychologists, neurologists and neuroscientists, and rehabilitation specialists and educators. These groups do research in this area but generally do not collaborate. This book is an attempt to bring together the disparate threads of research into one volume.

Reading by Touch

Reading by Touch PDF Author: Susanna Millar
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134916132
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description
Reading, using vision or touch, translates abstact marks on a page into an understanding of ideas. The perceptual, linguistic and cognitive processes involved in sighted reading have been widely studied, but the use of touch raises new issues. Drawing on her research with novice and fluent braille readers, Susanna Millar examines how people initially process braille and how skill with sounds, words, meaning and spelling patterns influence processing. The main focus is on braille but findings on the 'Moon' script, vibrotactile devices, maps and 'icons' are also considered in the context of their practical implications and access to computer technology. Reading by Touch will be of enormous interest to all teachers and students of tactual reading systems, and makes a significant contribution to theories in cognitive and developmental psychology.

The Psychology of Blindness

The Psychology of Blindness PDF Author: Donald D. Kirtley
Publisher: Burnham, Incorporated
ISBN:
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
A PSYCHOLOGIST EXPLORES THE NATURAL AND MAN-MADE CONSEQUENCES OF BLINDNESS. INCLUDES INFORMATION ON ADJUSTMENTS TO BLINDNESS AND RESEARCH INTO THE DREAM LIFE OF BLIND PEOPLE.

In touch with the future

In touch with the future PDF Author: Alberto Gallace
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191501816
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 626

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Book Description
Out of all the human senses, touch is the one that is most often unappreciated, and undervalued. Yet, the surface of the human body, the skin, is actually one huge sheet of tactile receptors. It provides us with the means to connect with our surroundings. Despite the important role that vision plays in our everyday lives, it is the skin that constitutes both the oldest, and by far the largest of our sense organs. The skin protects our body from the external world and, at the same time, informs us about what occurs on its surface. In Touch With The Future explores the science of touch, bringing together the latest findings from cognitive neuroscience about the processing of tactile information in humans. The book provides a comprehensive overview of scientific knowledge regarding themes such as tactile memory, tactile awareness (consciousness), tactile attention, the role of touch in interpersonal and sexual interactions, and the neurological substrates of touch. It highlights the many ways in which our growing understanding of the world of touch can, and in some cases already are, being applied in the real world in everything from the development of virtual reality (VR) environments, tablet PCs, mobile phones, and even teledildonics - the ultimate frontier in terms of adult entertainment. In addition, the book shows how the cognitive neuroscience approach to the study of touch can be applied to help improve the design of many real-world applications/products as well as to many of our everyday experiences, such as those related to the appreciation of food, marketing, packaging design, the development of enhanced sensory substitution systems, art, and man-machine interfaces. Crucially, the authors makes a convincing argument for the view that one cannot really understand touch, especially not in a real-world context, without placing it in a multisensory context. That is, the senses interact to influence tactile perception in everything - from changing the feel of a surface or product by changing the sound it makes or the fragrance it has. For students and researchers in the brain sciences, this book presents a valuable and fascinating exploration into one of our least understood senses

Seeing with the Hands

Seeing with the Hands PDF Author: Paterson Mark Paterson
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474405339
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
A literary, historical and philosophical discussion of attitudes to blindness by the sighted, and what the blind 'see'Why has there been a persistent fascination by the sighted, including philosophers, poets and the public, in what the blind 'see'? Is the experience of being blind, as Descartes declared, like 'seeing with the hands'? What happens on the rare occasions when surgery allows previously blind people to see for the very first time? And how did evidence from early experimental surgery inform those philosophical debates about vision and touch? These questions and others were prompted by a question that the Irish scientist, Molyneux, asked an English philosopher, Locke, in 1688, but which was to have implications for British empiricism, French sensationism, and the beginnings of psychology that outlasted the long tail of the Enlightenment. Through an unfolding historical and philosophical narrative the book follows up responses to this question in Britain and France, and considers it as an early articulation of sensory substitution, the substitution of one sense (touch) for another (vision). This concept has influenced attitudes towards blindness, and technologies for the blind and vision impaired, to this day.Key FeaturesUnfolds the history of 'blindness' from 17th century that shades into the beginnings of psychologyQuestions the assumed centrality of vision and the eye in Enlightenment philosophy and scienceTraces the core idea of 'sensory substitution' from hypothetical speculations in the 17th century to present day technologies for the blind and vision impaired

Understanding Blindness

Understanding Blindness PDF Author: Mark Hollins
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000549496
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
Originally published in 1989, much was known about blindness, but the field was divided into specialties. Experts in the different areas were widely dispersed among university departments, rehabilitation agencies, and school systems, with the result that people in one specialty area often knew little about developments in other areas. It was hoped that this work would be useful in reducing that isolation, by presenting, within a single volume, basic information derived from different approaches to the subject of blindness. Individuals already familiar with material in some of the chapters could gain added perspective on the field as a whole by reading about other aspects of blindness outside their specialty area.

Touch, Representation, and Blindness

Touch, Representation, and Blindness PDF Author: Morton A. Heller
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
Psychological studies of touch and blindness have been fraught with controversy. Within this field there remains an important theoretical divide. Many researchers have taken a cognitive approach to the study of touch and blindness, relating these to higher order processes, such as memory and concept formation. Others adopt a theoretical perspective, arguing that it not necessary to consider the 'internal representation' of the stimuli, when investigating touch - thus people make use of information from the physical biomechanical properties of their limbs as they assess the physical properties of objects. In addition, psychologists differ in the relative importance they place on the modality of sensory stimulation for subsequent perceptual experiences. Some psychologists argue that touch can do many of the things that are accomplished by vision, and claim that the mode of sensory stimulation is not critically important for perception, arguing that much information can be obtained through non-visual modalities. Others suggest that there are important consequences of a lack of visual experience, arguing for the importance of multiple forms of sensory input for conceptual development. New to the Debates in Psychology series, Touch, Representation, and Blindness brings together the leading investigators in these areas, each presenting the evidence for their side of the debate. An introductory chapter sets the theoretical and historical stage for the debate, and a concluding chapter draws together the different views and ideas set forth by the contributors, summarizing and resolving the discussion.