Tolman and the tradition of direct perception

During the early part of Tolman's career, he struggled to develop a language of molar behaviourism, which incorporated at a descriptive level the purposiveness he observed in his rats. Drawing upon Gestalt psychology he developed a set of terms to describe the organism in its environment. This...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The British journal of psychology 1986-11, Vol.77 (4), p.533-539
Main Authors: Good, Jim, Still, Arthur
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:During the early part of Tolman's career, he struggled to develop a language of molar behaviourism, which incorporated at a descriptive level the purposiveness he observed in his rats. Drawing upon Gestalt psychology he developed a set of terms to describe the organism in its environment. This work places him at the start of a tradition of direct perception, which has included Heider, Asch, and J. J. Gibson. The point light display of Johansson has recently been used to explore the information underlying perception of intentionality, and can be seen, retrospectively, to validate Tolman's non‐mentalistic account of purposiveness.
ISSN:0007-1269
2044-8295
DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1986.tb02218.x