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This volume has been edited as a source book to supplement developmental and experimental texts. Since the editors do not believe the topic of perception can be separated from total development, they have collected seventeen articles presenting different aspects, under six sections: Physiological Factors in the Development of Perception, Theories of Perception, Visual and Auditory Perception, and Social, Affective, and Cognitive Aspects of Perception. Each chapter covers current beliefs, past research, and indications for future research, and ends with a bibliography. Since the volume draws mainly on the research of psychologists and on articles published in journals of psychology, the approach and findings may not be familiar to the medical profession. Nor is the language easy to follow. Much of the data, however, is psychoanalytically oriented and could be of value to psychoanalysts and members of allied disciplines.
An essential theme running through the book is 'What is the basis of perception?'. While much is known about the neurological pathways for receiving sensory stimuli, there is still no single acceptable theory as to the development of perception. The ability to perceive is not static because the cognitive structures are 'born, grow, and die'. But how this occurs is still essentially a matter of hypothesis.
Of particular interest in the field of personality development is Dr. Jerome Kagan's work on the interaction of constitutional and other factors, especially in connection with longitudinal studies. A longitudinal study starting with eight-week-old infants and follow-up forty-eight weeks later, strongly suggests that there is an inverse correlation between activity and attention. This may indicate that impulsivity and reflectivity have a congenital basis. It is too bad that Dr. Kagan overlooked work done thirty years ago showing that eight weeks of age is too late to start a longitudinal study on constitutional factors. By that time interac