Book Description
Long regarded as the gold standard in sensation and perception texts, E. Bruce Goldstein's SENSATION AND PERCEPTION has helped more than 100,000 students make the connection between perception and physiology.Goldstein has crafted an easier-to-understand, and more student-friendly book, without sacrificing the text's comprehensive examination of sensation and perception.Goldstein takes readers on an intriguing journey through their senses, and chronicles scientists' efforts to understand the fascinating behind the scenes activity that allows us to perceive.With balanced coverage of all senses, this book offers an integrated examination of how the senses work together.Goldstein shows readers how seemingly simple experiences are actually extremely complex mechanisms and examines both the psychophysical and physiological underpinnings of perception.All material is presented in a way students find interesting and easy to follow.The book's visually dynamic presentation includes numerous color plates that are presented as visual topic essays.In addition, more than 50 hands-on demonstrations illustrate perceptual experiences.All are simple enough for students to do and are seamlessly integrated into the flow of the text. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting and accessible
For anyone who is interested in the psychology of sensation and perception, this is an excellent book. The book covers all the senses but emphasizes vision and hearing. It is well written and well stuctured, with abundant images that clarify the subject matter. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description
Helping you understand how you perceive what's around you-the wonder of seeing a face, hearing music, and smelling a rose-is what Goldstein's SENSATION AND PERCEPTION is all about. Writing clearly and using vivid full-color illustrations to clarify concepts, Goldstein shows you the importance of perception to your life. This textbook includes the latest breakthroughs in research and offers chapter-by-chapter correlation with online and multimedia resources that help you make the most of your study time. "Test Yourself" questions and "Think About It" exercises help you review and retain the material. The accompanying, "Virtual Lab" media exercises (available both on CD-ROM and online through the CengageNOW student tutorial platform) offer many animations and examples that clarify difficult concepts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great textbook with great supplementary items
This book is excellent.Well written and format is easy to read but most of all the accompanying website and lab book - really help in studying. ... Read more

Book Description
Why does the sky look blue? Why does sugar taste sweet? Can my dog hear the same things I hear? We all start out as natural enthusiasts for the subject material of a Sensation and Perception class. Sinauer Associates' new Sensation and Perception text is written by experts in each of the five senses who never lost that enthusiasm and who have a passion for conveying the excitement of this field of study to students. Sensation and Perception provides up-to-date and accurate descriptions of vision, audition, touch, taste, and olfaction in a lively and engaging manner. The book reflects the recent explosion of knowledge in higher-level perception with extensive coverage of topics such as attention, haptic perception, and speech and music. At the same time, the text provides a solid grounding in the basics of sensory physiology and psychophysics.

For students for whom this is the beginning and end of their study of sensation and perception, this text is intended to give an accessible, engaging and intellectually satisfying survey of the major topics in the field. For those who are continuing, the text will be a stimulating invitation to more extensive study in this rich field.

This is the first introductory sensation and perception textbook to take advantage of full-color printing through out. A robust website includes activities and demonstrations as well as additional written material for added depth. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Barely used the book but the website is EXCELLENT!
I had a really good prof with really good notes for this course, so I barely used the book. But the website is a great resource for studying and information.

Perfect balance
This is an excellent book. It was the course book for a graduate level course in Sensation and Perception that I took. Despite my fears (I have no Biology or Psychology background), this book made all the difference. What makes it so good is the fact that its both comprehensive, in depth and current (It's a fast moving field), yet it's written for people, not for academic material chewing robots. The text is fluent, simple, with explanations of non-trivial terms on the side notes. The writers occasionally use jokes and different tricks to make the material understandable and keep the reader entertained, but they don't overdo it. Perfect balance.

I would actually recommend this book even for non-academics. If you're interested in Cognitive Science in general and Sensation and Perception specifically, make it your first introduction to the field (along with "The man who mistook his wife for a hat"). It's just too good to be left for the small few who happen to study Cognitive Science.

Excellent book
At last! A book I completely understand about perception. It also has a website which completes the learning effectively.

Seems Promising But...
This book seemed at first like it would make the content of the class more bearable when in actuality it failed miserably (for a lot of the content) to convey the information in a clear, understandable way. The figures were not clearly labeled...sometimes you didn't even know what you were looking at. It did a poor job of explaining several concepts, often confusing the reader. It also contradicted itself on several occasions. Overall, I'd say that they are on the right track especially with the companion website but this book was choppy and a difficult read for the most part.

Spectacular
This is the Sensation and Perception textbook that I have fervently hoped for, and dreamed of, for years. Shouldn't a book on S&P bathe, dazzle and seduce the senses? Shouldn't it entertain and mesmerize its audience with illusions, effects, aftereffects, animations, classic experiments, art, music, historical images, brain imaging, and other sensual demos? The book is alive with colorful and informative visuals leaping off nearly every page. When used along with the remarkable student website (no extra charge) and Wyttenbach's forthcoming PsyCog CD-ROM (a few dollars extra), anyone can sense, perceive and *feel* the glorious phenomena that make our field so intriguing.

How easy is it to teach an S&P class using this textbook? Sinauer provides an instructor's resource CD that provides the foundation for a first-rate course.Powerpoint presentations are provided for all 14 chapters, along with lecture notes that incorporate the authors' suggestions for how to present the material (Word and PDF formats).Obviously, instructors will want to modify these materials considerably, but it is nice to have a well-conceived preparation available.Every figure from the text is provided in digital format, and this is especially useful given the quality of the illustrations. If you feel like you need more, there are plenty of sources online and elsewhere.Consider using video clips from Zimbardo's Discovering Psychology series or from Insight Media's film collection, or go to Viperlib.com for plenty of clips and images. Starting with, or switching to, this text should be pretty easy for most instructors.

Will psychology students enjoy this textbook?I think so. I showed Wolfe et al. to students in my most recent Cognitive Psychology class at UCSD, and they were nearly unanimous in preferring Wolfe et al. to other S&P texts.The other texts I showed them included some well-written classics that have been popular with students for years: Coren et al, Goldstein, Sekuler and Blake, Matlin & Foley, Schiffman, Levine.Students preferred the colorful pictures and diagrams in Wolfe et al.I think the publishers of the other texts have failed to fully appreciate that most students are "visuallearners" and so they have missed the boat by not going all-out on the visual presentation.(I really hope they keep pace.) The text of Wolfe et al. seems very student-friendly to me, and the students I know who are using it in another class say it is OK.It integrates popular culture and the authors seem aware that many of their readers are in their teens and early twenties.I should note that Wolfe in particular is a master teacher who has won teaching awards at MIT and Harvard.

Will non-psychology students enjoy this textbook? The first 8 chapters (200 pages) provide an extensive introduction to visual processing, so I think vision scientists (and especially grad students) will find plenty of interest.I can imagine portions of this textbook being used in optometry and ophthalmology courses, and in some medical settings.It is not a clinically oriented textbook, but it does cover some clinical topics (e.g., color blindness, cochlear implants, pain), and it does cover methods and topics that clinicians will need to understand.Anyone with an interest in neuroscience or physiology will find plenty of interest.The student with strong interests in computational models, artificial intelligence, physics, and engineering will find an excellent intuitive introduction to S&P here, but will need to look elsewhere to learn about the computational richness of the field.

Does the text provide a balanced introduction to the field? Seven of the fourteen chapters emphasize vision, and three of the remaining chapters cover auditory topics. The bias favoring vision first and audition second over the other senses is fairly standard. Chapters include:1: Introduction, 2: The First Steps in Vision, 3: Spatial Vision, 4: Perceiving and Recognizing Objects, 5: The Perception of Color, 6: Space Perception and Binocular Vision; 7: Motion Perception, 8; Attention and Scene Perception, 9: Hearing: Physiology and Psychoacoustics, 10: Hearing and the Environment, 11: Music and Speech Perception, 12: Touch, 13: Olfaction, 14: Taste.Each chapter is approximately 20-30 pages long.The chapters provide plenty of psychophysics and neuroscience for an introductory S&P psychology class.There is only a little on sensory development and sensory cognition (other than vision).

Is the text up to scientific standards?It seems to be.One might expect to find some errors in a first edition.There are areas that could be more polished (e.g., the authors equated light scatter and diffraction; they could have more clearly differentiated the Vieth-Muller circle from the horopter).The book seems to be in good shape for a first edition. So far, I haven't found anything to make me regret my decision to use this text.

So... I'm definitely excited about using this book in my S&P classes.I used to go out of my way to hear Wolfe speak at conferences, even though my research interests differ somewhat from his. When I saw that the list of authors included vision scientists Wolfe and Levi, I was already leaning toward using this book.It is a pretty dynamic group of authors, and I imagine that the star quality of some of the authors will appeal to some people. ... Read more

Product Description
This listing is for the Laboratory Manual W/CD to accompany "Sensation&Perception, 7th edition." ... Read more

Book Description
This book sets the standard in bringing technical scientificinformation on the subject of sensation and perception to a wide audience withoutstanding readability and thorough coverage.Retaining itstraditionally clear and accessible writing style, this new edition boasts athoroughly revised art program and over 1,300 new references. The motionchapter now focuses solely on visual motion perception, so it appears earlierin the book. In addition, the book includes thirteen In-Depth sections,each of which explore a current “hot” research topic to provide a senseof how researchers ask questions with subjects varying from the role of facerecognition in eyewitness testimony to phantom limb perception. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Find something else!
I have a cut-down version of this text for a uni class on human information processing.I really hate this book!!

It is really hard to read, over technical and just drones on with key words.

The companion website is the singularly worst student/instructor companion website I have ever had the displeasure to use. ... Read more

Book Description
This book combines sensation and perception with all biological-sensory aspects of perception with all biological-sensory aspects of perception covered from an evolutionary point of view. It raises the key question: How do the senses gather and secure information about the outside world? This basic question is addressed by explaining how the physical world interacts with and stimulates the senses, and, in turn, how the sense and the nervous system transform, integrate, and process the stimulation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Best in its Field!
This is one of the most clearly written and well organized textbooks in the field of psychology.In an intelligently concise manner, Prof. Schiffman captures his readers with his insightful invitations to explorethe human senses.Full of well presented color diagrams, fascinatingillusions and interesting pictures, this text enahnces your senses whileexplaining how they work.This text is a must read for any psychologist,biologist, physician or individual who is interested in learning how humanssense and perceive the environment.

The Best in its Field!
This is one of the most clearly written and well organized textbooks in the field of psychology.In an intelligently concise manner, Prof. Schiffman captures his readers with his insightful invitations to explorethe human senses.Full of well presented color diagrams, fascinatingillusions and interesting pictures, this text enahnces your senses whileexplaining how they work.This text is a must read for any psychologist,biologist, physician or individual who is interested in learning how humanssense and perceive the environment. ... Read more

Book Description
This highly acclaimed book provides a theoretically balanced introduction to the study of basic physiology and sensory responses. The authors survey a broad range of topics and present different theories and perspectives in controversial areas.
* Demonstrations allow the reader to experience many of the perceptual phenomena firsthand using common household items or illustrations in the book.
* Describes natural instances of perceptual phenomena to bring the subject matter to life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

EXCELLENT coverage of S & P
I chose Coren & Ward because a GRE study guide recommended it. C&W was the best GRE studying I did.

The writing is clear, the organization is great, the illustrations, diagrams, and inset examples are excellent. You can't do better than this to get an overview of S&P. Good introductory or mid-level book. Starts with all the basics (how the ear works, how we see color) and winds up with complex topics like how we perceive music.

A good reference book, it's even fun for browsing, or for sharing with friends and saying "This is so cool! Check this out!" (regarding some of the perceptual illusions and demonstrations etc.) How many textbooks can you say that about? ... Read more

Product Description
E. Bruce Goldstein's SENSATION AND PERCEPTION, the best-seller which has helped over 150,000 students understand the ties between how we sense the world and how the body interprets these senses, is now in a brilliant full-color Seventh Edition. A key strength of this text has always been the ability to show the student what they are learning through examples and visuals. Now, the book takes this visual learning one step further by using color throughout as a learning tool. As the sole author of the text, Goldstein's singular voice combines with his extensive classroom experience and most innovative research to create a visual text unparalleled in the field. The text walks the student through an intriguing journey of the senses with a mixture of clarity and thoroughness. The accompanying, "Virtual Lab" media exercises (available both on CD-ROM, within the Perception PsychologyNowTM student tutorial platform, and in the online WebTutorTM Advantage product) offer a wide array of animations and examples designed to stimulate understanding of difficult concepts. Every chapter has been updated for currency and readability, and a new chapter six on Visual Attention rounds off this timely revision. ... Read more

Book Description
This textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the sensory processes leading to perception, with an emphasis on the physiological bases for the phenomena. The visual system is discussed in depth, with parallels drawn in subsequent treatments of the auditory system, somatosensory and pain systems, gustatory system, and olfactory system. In each case, the discussion begins with the physical stimulus, progresses through anatomy and physiology, and concludes with perceptual phenomenology. The intent is to be scholarly but accessible, engaging the undergraduate student with real-life examples and demonstrations while providing a firm stepping-off point for advanced students. This edition includes a CD containing a computer program that provides demonstrations and simualtions to explain, clarify and make accessible phenomena normally confined to the laboratory. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Book!
This book is very well written and covers all the bases of sensation and perception.It is not only factual but very interesting as well.I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Book Description
This new and exciting American Psychological Reader contains articles that have been carefully selected for the undergraduate audience, and taken from the very accessible Current Directions in Psychological Science journal. These timely, cutting-edge articles allow instructors to bring a real-world perspective—from a reliable source—about today's most current and pressing issues in Sensation and Perception to their students. ... Read more

Book Description

This second edition of the Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol, and Addictive Behavior reflects changes in the attitudes about, use, and knowledge of drugs and alcohol since the first edition published in 1995. These changes include the decrease of crack cocaine use and resurgence of heroin use; changes in laws dealing with drug use (on both the state and national levels), and new discoveries leading to a better understanding of how drugs work and what makes them addictive. More than 700 articles, written for both the student and layperson, cover the social, medical and political issues related to drugs and alcohol, as well exploring and explaining types of addiction.