1992/09/01 by J. Kevin Ο’Regan · 6 citations
Computer Science · Mathematics · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Aesthetic Perception and Analysis #Artificial intelligence #Cognitive psychology #Cognitive science #Computer science #Computer vision #Domain (mathematical analysis) #Feeling #Illusion #Mathematics #Optical illusion #Perception #Psychology #Social psychology #Vision science #Visual Attention and Saliency Detection #Visual perception #Visual perception and processing mechanisms
paper · doi:10.1037/h0084327
openalex publication_date 1992/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Visual science is currently a highly active domain, with much progress being made in fields such as colour vision, stereo vision, perception of brightness and contrast, visual illusions, etc. But the "real" mystery of visual perception remains comparatively unfathomed, or at least relegated to philosophical status: Why it is that we can see so well with what is apparently such a badly constructed visual apparatus? In this paper I will discuss several defects of vision and the classical theories of how they are overcome. I will criticize these theories and suggest an alternative approach, in which the outside world is considered as a kind of external memory store which can be accessed instantaneously by casting one's eyes (or one's attention) to some location. The feeling of the presence and extreme richness of the visual world is, under this view, a kind of illusion, created by the immediate availability of the information in this external store.