This comprehensive introduction to Sensation and Perception has been highly praised for its unique approach, which begins with the minor senses and progresses to vision.

The book begins with an introductory chapter on general physiological, perceptual and theoretical principles which gives the reader the conceptual tools to build a clear understanding of how we perceive the world. The next two chapters then flesh out basic topics such as transduction, receptive fields, and sensory adaptation via coverage of the minor senses (touch, balance, smell, and taste). Later chapters on hearing and vision build on these foundations. This approach allows students to thoroughly grasp the fundamental principles in relation to the relatively simple sensory systems before moving on to the more complex topics. Unlike other perception textbooks, this has a whole chapter on Individual Differences, which considers potential sources of difference such as age, sex, expertise and culture.

This full-color 2nd edition has been revised and updated to include:

Revised and expanded coverage of taste processing and perception, touch perception, pitch perception, and receptive field modeling.
New sections on word perception, the size after-effect, crowding, scene perception, and optic flow.
A completely new chapter devoted to multi-sensory processing and synesthesia, with a new tutorial on attentional effects in perception.
A new tutorial on visual dysfunction in artists.
The book includes a number of helpful textbook features, such as key terms, chapter summaries, and student and instructor supplementary resources. There are also ‘Tutorial’ sections in each chapter, which provide an opportunity for students to advance their studies by exploring supplementary information on recent or controversial developments. Further, over 700 references to original source material lead the interested reader into the specialist literature.

Foundations of Sensation and Perception provides students with a thorough analysis of our perceptual experience, how it relates to the physical properties of the world and how it is linked to the biological properties of the brain. It will be an invaluable resource for those studying psychology and neuroscience, enabling the reader to achieve a firm grasp of current knowledge concerning the complex processes that underlie our perception of the world.

Student Resources: Perception Student Learning Program

The student website includes our Perception Student Learning Program (Perception SLP) which offers a unique and innovative approach to study. The Perception SLP is available free of charge to departments adopting Foundations of Sensation and Perception by George Mather.

Each chapter from Foundations of Sensation and Perception is condensed into a concise summary version, providing an effective set of revision notes. These notes also expand on and elucidate the book’s content, with references to specific pages in the textbook. ‘Must know’ information is presented in a clear, accessible style, along with sections to stretch more advanced students. The notes also provide an integrative framework for a range of interactive multimedia materials and features, including:

Animations and simulations of key perceptual phenomena
Fill-in-the-blank questions
Multiple-choice questions
Key-term definitions
Research studies
Short-essay questions
Links to related websites.
Several demo chapters from the Perception Student Learning Program are available to view.

Instructor Resources

We offer web-based, password-protected resources free of charge to instructors who recommend Foundations of Sensation and Perception by George Mather. These resources include:

A comprehensive chapter-by-chapter slideshow lecture course
A set of short-answer questions per chapter to stimulate discussion.