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Sensory and Perceptual Control of Action in Early Human Development

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Relationships Between Perception and Action

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Abstract

Although the idea is not new, it is only recently that we are frequently able to read that action and perception are two inseparable poles of human and animal behavior1; it is a theory (or dogma?) which is so attractive that it unifies the adherents of apparently incompatible schools of thought, such as the cognitivists and the followers of “ecological psychology.” Perception and action are inseparable in the sense that perception is constantly at the service of action, controlling and guiding action. Conversely, action may also be at the service of perception, by conditioning and determining it, although less research has been dedicated to the study of such a relationship (see Bridgeman, this volume, for a discussion of the role of eye movements in visual perception). Furthermore, it is through action that an objects properties are discovered. More specifically, most authors (Fowler Turvey, 1982; Neisser, 1985; Mounoud, 1981) agree in the recognition that perception and action are intricately related in the sense that a unique language may be used to describe, and possibly explain, the functioning of the structures of both perception and action. For Neisser it is very likely that mental structures (schemata) that organize movements are represented internally in the same format as those responsible for perceptions.

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  1. Abteilung für Psychologie, Universität Bielefeld, Postfach 8640, 4800, Bielefeld, Germany

    Odmar Neumann  & Wolfgang Prinz  & 

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Vinter, A. (1990). Sensory and Perceptual Control of Action in Early Human Development. In: Neumann, O., Prinz, W. (eds) Relationships Between Perception and Action. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75348-0_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75348-0_11

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