The Experimental Phenomena of Consciousness: A Brief Dictionary - Hardcover

Bachmann, Talis; Breitmeyer, Bruno; Ogmen, Haluk

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195316908 ISBN 13: 9780195316902

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2007

Synopsis

Experimental Phenomena of Consciousness is the definitive collection of consciousness phenomena in which awareness emerges as an experimental variable. With its comprehensive yet succinct entries, arranged alphabetically, this dictionary will be a valuable reference tool for libraries and researchers at all levels in psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, who are investigating consciousness, cognition, perception, and attention. It will also be an important addition to the reading lists of courses on consciousness and cognition. Most entries include illustrations and a list of references where a more thorough treatment of the topic can be found. The text is supported by a web page that provides dynamic illustrations and other supplemental material. As the first reference book on the topic, Experimental Phenomena of Consciousness will be a valuable tool for undergraduates, graduate students, professional researchers, and anyone who has an interest in the subject of consciousness.

About this title

About the Author:

Talis Bachmann studied psychology at the University of Tartu, Estonia. He has Ph.D.-level degrees in psychology and in psychophysiology. He is a full-time professor at the University of Tartu and is internationally known for his research in perception, attention, and consciousness. Bachmann is also the author or editor of three internationally distributed titles and 10 Estonian-language books, the two-time recipient of the Estonian national prize for scientific studies, and the former Rector of the Tallinn University in Estonia.

Bruno Breitmeyer is Professor of Psychology at the University of Houston. He studied mathematics at the University of Illinois and received his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University in 1972. Best known for his work on visual masking, he currently uses visual masking as a means of exploring the types and levels of both nonconscious and conscious visual processing.

Haluk Ö?men obtained his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Université Laval, Québec, Canada. He is currently professor and chair of the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and director of the Center for Neuro-Engineering and Cognitive Science at the University of Houston. His research combines experimental and theoretical approaches for the study of visual perception and cognitive dynamics.

Review:

"Science magazine recently listed consciousness as one of the top unsolved problems in science. But as Talis Bachmann and his coauthors show in this book, the fact that human consciousness is unsolved doesn't mean it is unexplored. Careful studies of conscious phenomena go back as far as Newton's color experiments and 'Aristotle's illusion.' This book presents a solid sampling of experimental phenomena that cast light on human consciousness. It is a useful, brief manual for courses focused on the empirical study of human consciousness." --Bernard J. Baars, Senior Fellow in Theoretical Neurobiology, The Neurosciences Institute

"Bachmann, Breitmeyer, and Ögmen have done neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers an enormous service. They have put together a single comprehensive dictionary of the experimental paradigms and phenomena that characterize research in consciousness. This book will not only be useful for students, but also for established investigators working in this exciting field. Philosophers, who are increasingly drawing on empirical work to bolster their ideas, will find it particularly valuable." --Melvyn A. Goodale, Canada Research Chair in Visual Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario

"Experimental Phenomena of Consciousness offers a very compact and handy compendium of the relevant, empirically approachable aspects of consciousness. It is a handbook that every student of consciousness should own." --Christof Koch, Lois and Victor Troendle Professor of Cognitive and Behavioral Biology, California Institute of Technology

"This dictionary is an indispensable little guide to the wonders of conscious sensation and perception. It provides both the student and the researcher with a lucid introduction to the variety and multiplicity of conscious phenomena that, ultimately, the science of consciousness should explain." --Antti Revonsuo, Professor, University of Turku, Finland and University of Skövde, Sweden

"Only rarely is a reference work unflaggingly entertaining, instructive, and worth reading through from beginning to end; this is such a work. Bachmann, Breitmeyer, and Ögmen present a collection of about 125 psychological effects that involve sensory consciousness. Each one is intriguing, and some are spectacular." --Choice

"Science magazine recently listed consciousness as one of the top unsolved problems in science. But as Talis Bachmann and his coauthors show in this book, the fact that human consciousness is unsolved doesn't mean it is unexplored. Careful studies of conscious phenomena go back as far as Newton's color experiments and 'Aristotle's illusion.' This book presents a solid sampling of experimental phenomena that cast light on human consciousness. It is a useful, brief manual for courses focused on the empirical study of human consciousness." --Bernard J. Baars, Senior Fellow in Theoretical Neurobiology, The Neurosciences Institute

"Bachmann, Breitmeyer, and Ögmen have done neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers an enormous service. They have put together a single comprehensive dictionary of the experimental paradigms and phenomena that characterize research in consciousness. This book will not only be useful for students, but also for established investigators working in this exciting field. Philosophers, who are increasingly drawing on empirical work to bolster their ideas, will find it particularly valuable." --Melvyn A. Goodale, Canada Research Chair in Visual Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario

"Experimental Phenomena of Consciousness offers a very compact and handy compendium of the relevant, empirically approachable aspects of consciousness. It is a handbook that every student of consciousness should own." --Christof Koch, Lois and Victor Troendle Professor of Cognitive and Behavioral Biology, California Institute of Technology

"This dictionary is an indispensable little guide to the wonders of conscious sensation and perception. It provides both the student and the researcher with a lucid introduction to the variety and multiplicity of conscious phenomena that, ultimately, the science of consciousness should explain." --Antti Revonsuo, Professor, University of Turku, Finland and University of Skövde, Sweden

"Only rarely is a reference work unflaggingly entertaining, instructive, and worth reading through from beginning to end; this is such a work. Bachmann, Breitmeyer, and Ögmen present a collection of about 125 psychological effects that involve sensory consciousness. Each one is intriguing and some are spectacular." --Choice

"...slim, instructive, well-referenced, and also entertaining...This is a pioneering "dictionary" of counterintuitive phenomena, concisely but clearly annotated and referenced. Specialist readers will discover intriguing unfamiliar phenomena. Generalists will be offered a glimpse of how carefully and confidently (and yet fallibly) the visual mind/brain edits its representation of the world."--Quarterly Review of Biology

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0195316908
• ISBN 13: 9780195316902
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160