Perceptual recalibration in sensory substitution and perceptual modification
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Juan C. González
Abstract
This paper analyzes the process of perceptual recalibration (PR) in light of two cases of technologically-mediated cognition: sensory substitution and perceptual modification. We hold that PR is a very useful concept — perhaps necessary — for explaining the adaptive capacity that natural perceptive systems display as they respond to functional demands from the environment. We also survey critically related issues, such as the role of learning, training, and nervous system plasticity in the recalibrating process. Attention is given to the interaction between technology and cognition, and the case of epistemic prostheses is presented as an illustration. Finally, we address the following theoretical issues: (1) the dynamic character of spatial perception; (2) the role of functional demands in perception; (3) the nature and interaction of sensory modalities. We aim to show that these issues may be addressed empirically and conceptually — hence, the usefulness of sensory-substitution and perceptual-modification studies in the analysis of perception, technologically-mediated cognition, and cognition in general.
Abstract
This paper analyzes the process of perceptual recalibration (PR) in light of two cases of technologically-mediated cognition: sensory substitution and perceptual modification. We hold that PR is a very useful concept — perhaps necessary — for explaining the adaptive capacity that natural perceptive systems display as they respond to functional demands from the environment. We also survey critically related issues, such as the role of learning, training, and nervous system plasticity in the recalibrating process. Attention is given to the interaction between technology and cognition, and the case of epistemic prostheses is presented as an illustration. Finally, we address the following theoretical issues: (1) the dynamic character of spatial perception; (2) the role of functional demands in perception; (3) the nature and interaction of sensory modalities. We aim to show that these issues may be addressed empirically and conceptually — hence, the usefulness of sensory-substitution and perceptual-modification studies in the analysis of perception, technologically-mediated cognition, and cognition in general.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- About the authors ix
- Introduction 1
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Articles
- Making faces with computers 9
- Perceptual recalibration in sensory substitution and perceptual modification 29
- Distributed processes, distributed cognizers and collaborative cognition 47
- Robotics, philosophy and the problems of autonomy 61
- Technology and the management imagination 79
- Information and mechanical models of intelligence 109
- Is cognition plus technology an unbounded system? Technology, representation and culture 127
- Radical Empiricism, Empirical Modelling and the nature of knowing 155
- Index 185
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- About the authors ix
- Introduction 1
-
Articles
- Making faces with computers 9
- Perceptual recalibration in sensory substitution and perceptual modification 29
- Distributed processes, distributed cognizers and collaborative cognition 47
- Robotics, philosophy and the problems of autonomy 61
- Technology and the management imagination 79
- Information and mechanical models of intelligence 109
- Is cognition plus technology an unbounded system? Technology, representation and culture 127
- Radical Empiricism, Empirical Modelling and the nature of knowing 155
- Index 185
