Perception is one of the oldest & most deeply investigated topics in the field of psychology & it is also raises some profound philosophical questions It is concerned with how we use the information reaching our senses to guide & control our behaviour as well as to create our particular subjective experiences of the surrounding world In this Very Short Introduction Brian J Rogers discusses the philosophical question of what it means to perceive as well as describing how we are able to perceive the particular characteristics of objects & scenes such as their lightness colour form depth & motion What we perceive however does not always correspond to what exists in the world & as Rogers shows the study of illusions can be useful in telling us something about the nature & limitations of our perceptual processes Rogers also explores perception from an evolutionary perspective explaining how evolutionary pressures have shaped the perceptual systems of humans & other animals He shows that perception is not necessarily a separate & independent process but rather part of a 'perceptual system' involving both the extraction of perceptual information & the control of action Rogers goes on to cover the significant progress made recently in the understanding of perception through the use of precise & controlled psychophysical methods single cell recordings & imaging techniques There have also been many insights from attempts to model perceptual processes in artificial systems As Rogers shows these attempts have revealed how difficult it is to programme machines to perform even the most simple of perceptual tasks that we take for granted ABOUT THE SERIES The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly Our expert authors combine facts analysis perspective new ideas & enthusiasm to make interesting & challenging topics highly readable