[visionlist] Special Issue on THE PLACE OF MEANING IN PERCEPTION: TOWARDS A SCIENCE OF MEANING

[Baingio Pinna]

GESTALT THEORY: An International Multidisciplinary Journal - Call for Papers

 
 
Special Issue on
 
THE PLACE OF MEANING IN PERCEPTION:
TOWARDS A SCIENCE OF MEANING
 
 
 
 
Koffka’s question ‘Why do things (objects) look as they do?’ is the fundamental issue of perception and a crucial test for any psychological theory (Gibson). It concerns the problem of why we perceive a world articulated in objects such as people, cities, houses, cars and trees, and not in differences of luminances, edges and bars, as clearly stated by Wertheimer. According to Gestalt psychologists, this question can be understood in terms of perceptual organization, which is a key issue of science of perception challenging all its main approaches, be they phenomenological, ecological, psychophysical, computational or neurophysiological.
The problem of perceptual organization was first studied by Gestalt psychologists in terms of grouping (Wertheimer) and in terms of figure-ground segregation (Rubin). Well-known ‘principles of grouping’ resulted from Wertheimer’s study, whereas Rubin specified the rules of figure-ground organization.
Koffka’s question and the problem of perceptual organization subsume another question, useful to understand human perception: “What is a perceptual object?”. Human perception is, in fact, more than figural grouping and segregation. It also extends to the formation of shapes and meanings. Each perceptual object is made up of element components grouped and segregated, but it further appears as a shape related to other shapes that convey and signify one or more meanings related to other shapes and meanings, thus creating the complex world perceived in everyday life. By perceiving people, cities, houses, cars and trees, we perceive different kinds of organization at the same time culminating in the meanings grounded in perception.
 
This special issue is aimed (i) at a deeper understanding of further forms of perceptual organization related and consequent to grouping and figure-ground segregation; (ii) at exploring the ability and distinctiveness of human perceptual system to organize the world through different kinds of forms and through a complex net of meanings; (iii) at understanding what is a perceptual meaning, where does the meaning assignment start, and, more generally, what is the place of meanings in perception.
 
We invite submissions that explore the scientific study of perceptual meanings from a multidisciplinary perspective – e.g. phenomenology, ecological psychology, psychophysics, computational science, cognitive science, neurosciences, philosophy, arts, mathematics, linguistics, etc. We particularly welcome articles that might suggest new ideas, intriguing new approaches, new findings, challenging theories and that also explore comparatively and critically different frameworks, data, theories and perspectives.
 
Manuscripts for this special peer-reviewed issue should be submitted before March 31, 2011. We expect the reviewing process to be completed within 3 months, with publication expected at the end of 2011. After the special issue(s) appears in the Journal of Gestalt Theory, the issue(s) will also be published in the form of a book, by Verlag Krammer, Vienna (Austria), which is the publisher of the journal.
 
Manuscripts should be emailed directly to the guest editor, following the Instructions for Authors in http://gestalttheory.net/gth/. Authors are encouraged to contact the guest editor of this issue, Dr Baingio Pinna, if uncertain about the relevance of their work to the issue or for every other questions related to the special issue.
 
 
Guest Editor:
Baingio Pinna
Dept. Architecture, Design & Planning
Palazzo del Pou Salit, Piazza Duomo 6
University of Sassari, I-07041, Alghero, Italy
Ph. home: +39-079-441101; cell. 3926315770
Fax: +39-079-9720420
e-mail 1: baingio at uniss.it
e-mail 2: baingio.pinna at gmail.com
 
 
Editors:
Gerhard Stemberger (Executive Editor), Geert-Jan Boudewijnse, Jürgen Kriz, Fiorenza Toccafondi, Hans-Jürgen P. Walter
 
 
Gestalt Theory: An International Multidisciplinary Journal
http://gestalttheory.net/gth/
 
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