1. If a human being looses all their perceptual constancy, what specific problems would they have?

2. Define the term perceptual Constancy?

-- Shailendra Prasad (sprasad007@govnet.gov.fj), August 04, 2003

Answers

There are different kinds of perceptual constancies. Which one did you have in mind. If we lost color constancy, we wouldn't be able to recognize the same color under different lighting conditions. See any basic perception text for a fuller description.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), August 05, 2003.

I am resonding to the reply on the above.

What would happen if a person losses all of his perceptual constancies?

-- Shailendra Prasad (sprasad007@govnet.gov.fj), August 05, 2003.

What will happen when one would lose one's ability for perceptual constancy poses an interesting philosophical problem (not totally unrelated to the qualia problem, I think). I have never seen a case described, possibly these perceptual mechanisms are too much intertwined with 'normal' perceptual procedures. In any case I presume that losing the ability for perceiving size constancy would make judging things like 'is the door open or closed?' difficult, probably impossible.

-- Casper Hulshof (see_earlier_posts@foo.bar), August 12, 2003.