Understanding the Secrets of Human Perception

By: Peter M. Vishton, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Peter M. Vishton

Your senses aren't just a part of you-they define you. Nothing you experience would be possible without the intricate power of your senses. But how much about them do you really know?

Your ability to sense and perceive the world around you is so richly detailed and accurate as to be miraculous. No tool in the entire universe of scientific exploration can come close to matching the ability of your brain to use information sensed by your eyes, ears, skin, tongue, and nose to produce a rich sensory experience in just milliseconds.

In recent years, neurobiologists and other scientists have uncovered new insights into how your senses work and the amazingly complex and fascinating things they can do. And now you can share in what they've discovered-through this intriguing series of 24 lectures from an award-winning teacher.

Knowing how your senses work and the ways they shape how you see, interact with, and understand your life will help you think more critically about everything you sense and perceive, strengthen your appreciation of the senses that make this possible, prepare you to be an active consumer of new scientific evidence on how our senses work, and much more.

With Professor Vishton as your guide, you'll. consider each of your senses from multiple perspectives:

• Explore how your brain processes different sensory information
• Consider how your senses work together and within the context of the environment around you
• discover how your senses connect you to the world and other people.

Using both cutting-edge research and simple experiments, tests, and demonstrations to hone your understanding, he has created a world-class learning experience that will change the way you think about your senses.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2011 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2011 The Great Courses

Great book for inquisitive minds

The professor manages to keep you focused on the subject, without going so much in to details that you get bored and just want to move on. This great course is a must for those who want to know more about how the human senses work.

More than Meets the Ears

While there are some exercises in these lectures that require the use of the included pdf (and some simple online video searches), even with just the audio book there is a ton of fascinating information here. From how we perceive colors to the thermal grill illusion, I learned so much about how we perceive (and don't perceive) the world around us. I'll be returning to this lecture series again and again for tips on illusions, interpreting behavior, and entertaining infants. It also takes a thoughtful look at how brain damage, sensory disabilities, and a-typical neurology affect our experiences of the world--something I really appreciated. This was just a great set of lectures!

too difficult and not what I was expecting

not what I was expecting from the except and summary but interesting none the less

Quite exciting and informative

The professor breaks down complex biological/scientific concepts into easy to understand language. He does a great job of keeping the wonder and amazement in the complexity of our own senses in what could have been a dry lecture. For anyone the least interested in the owners manual for the sensing and perceptual systems that we use to form our world, this is a well-done listen.

Some lectures explains the book Blink. Awesome.

I recommend these lectures for anyone that is interested in human perception like teacher, psychiatrist, profiler but also if you are a gamer, athlete or toy designer.

If I hear salient one more time!

He used that word more times than I have heard it in the rest of my life combined. Given I've been studying for over 50 years that's saying something.
otherwise, the content seemed reasonably thorough and well presented.

My perception of the book is very positive

Great Courses are always great. A fascinating exploration of how subjective a our perception of the world can be. Would definitely recommend.

I loved it! It's a great learning experience

The materials covered is put in a way that even someone like men with very little experience with the subjects covered had no trouble following and even learning a great deal. It is definitely something I will listen to several time.

Self awareness

Prof. Visit in shares unacknowledged of and love for the study of human perception. Not only will this course explain some things about your own senses of perception, and those around you, it should also raise new and profound questions for you to pursue.

Middle of the road great course

Interesting subject matter. Some lectures were great, some couldn't be over fast enough. A very middle of the road great course.

It wasn't helped by the slow momentum of the first few physiology chapters which were among the least interesting. That was a rough start. Still, decent overall and it definitely had its highlights.