Why do things look blurry underwater? Why do people drive too fast in fog? How do you high-pass filter a cup of tea? What have mixer taps to do with colour vision?

Basic Vision: An Introduction to Visual Perception demystifies the processes through which we see the world. Written by three authors with over 80 years of research and undergraduate teaching experience between them, it leads the reader step-by-step through the intricacies of visual processing, with full-colour illustrations on nearly every page. The writing style captures the excitement of recent research in neuroscience that has transformed our understanding of visual processing, but delivers it with a humour that keeps the reader enthused, rather than bemused.

The book takes us through the various elements that come together as our perception of the world around us: the perception of size, colour, motion, and three-dimensional space. It illustrates the intricacy of the visual system, discussing its development during infancy, and revealing how the brain can get it wrong, either as a result of brain damage, through which the network of processes become compromised, or through illusion, where the brain compensates for mixed messages by seeing what it thinks should be there, rather than conveying the reality. The book also demonstrates the importance of contemporary techniques and methodology, and neuroscience-based techniques in particular, in driving forward our understanding of the visual system.

Table of Contents

0 Introduction: a trailer to the book

1 The first steps in seeing

2 Signalling changes

3 To the cortex

4 Spatial vision

5 Colour vision

6 The perception of motion

7 The third dimension

8 The development of vision

9 Attention and neglect

10 The perception of faces

11 Vision and action

12 How we know it might be so ...

About the Authors

Robert Snowden is a Professor in the School of Psychology, Cardiff University, where his research spans visual perception, attention, and abnormal psychology.

Peter Thompson is Senior Lecturer in Visual Psychophysics in the Department of Psychology, University of York where his research examines the perception of motion and speed.

Tom Troscianko is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol where his research explores perception, cognition, and action.