Touch and Blindness

Touch and Blindness
Author: Morton A. Heller
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2006-04-21
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1135619301

Research on touch and blindness has undergone rapid transformation in recent years, with dramatic developments in technology designed to provide assistance to those who are blind, and advancements in robotics that demand haptic interfaces. Touch and Blindness approaches the study of the topic from the perspectives of psychological methodology and the most sophisticated, state-of-the-art techniques in neuroscience. This book, edited by well-known leaders in the field, is derived from the discussions presented by speakers at a conference held in 2002, and presents current research in the field. The book is arranged in a logical, disciplinary fashion, first discussing touch and blindness from a psychological perspective, followed by an examination from the perspective of neuroscience. Some specific topics include: *processing spatial information from touch and movement; *form, projection, and pictures for the blind; *neural substrate and visual and tactile object representations; and *the role of visual cortex in tactile processing. Touch and Blindness is ideal for researchers in psychology and neuroscience, medicine, and special education.

Psychology of Touch and Blindness

Psychology of Touch and Blindness
Author: Morton A. Heller
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Blindness
ISBN: 9781848726536

This book reviews the considerable body of research on the touch skills of blind people. Emphasizing cognitive and neuroscientific approaches, it encompasses a wide-ranging discussion of the theoretical issues in the field of touch perception and blindness, and also speaks to the basic nature of spatial imagery and the importance and necessity -- or lack thereof -- of specific visual sensory experience for the acquisition of knowledge about space, spatial layout, and picture perception. The book will appeal to researchers and professionals with an interest in touch and blindness and a wider audience of cognitive psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists working in the field of perception.

Seeing with the Hands

Seeing with the Hands
Author: Paterson Mark Paterson
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2017-12-11
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1474405339

A literary, historical and philosophical discussion of attitudes to blindness by the sighted, and what the blind 'see'Why has there been a persistent fascination by the sighted, including philosophers, poets and the public, in what the blind 'see'? Is the experience of being blind, as Descartes declared, like 'seeing with the hands'? What happens on the rare occasions when surgery allows previously blind people to see for the very first time? And how did evidence from early experimental surgery inform those philosophical debates about vision and touch? These questions and others were prompted by a question that the Irish scientist, Molyneux, asked an English philosopher, Locke, in 1688, but which was to have implications for British empiricism, French sensationism, and the beginnings of psychology that outlasted the long tail of the Enlightenment. Through an unfolding historical and philosophical narrative the book follows up responses to this question in Britain and France, and considers it as an early articulation of sensory substitution, the substitution of one sense (touch) for another (vision). This concept has influenced attitudes towards blindness, and technologies for the blind and vision impaired, to this day.Key FeaturesUnfolds the history of 'blindness' from 17th century that shades into the beginnings of psychologyQuestions the assumed centrality of vision and the eye in Enlightenment philosophy and scienceTraces the core idea of 'sensory substitution' from hypothetical speculations in the 17th century to present day technologies for the blind and vision impaired

Touching the Rock

Touching the Rock
Author: John Hull
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 250
Release: 1992-06-02
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 067973547X

With a foreword by Oliver Sacks Shortly after John Hull went blind, after years of struggling with failing vision, he had a dream in which he was trapped on a sinking ship, submerging into another, unimaginable world. The power of this calmly eloquent, intensely perceptive memoir lies in its thorough navigation of the world of blindness—a world in which stairs are safe and snow is frightening, where food and sex lose much of their allure and playing with one's child may be agonizingly difficult. As he describes the ways in which blindness shapes his experience of his wife and children, of strangers helpful and hostile, and, above all, of his God, Hull becomes a witness in the highest, true sense. Touching the Rock is a book that will instruct, move, and profoundly transform anyone who reads it.

Touch and Blindness

Touch and Blindness
Author: Morton A. Heller
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2006-04-21
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 113561931X

Touch and Blindness approaches the study of this topic from the perspectives of psychological methodology and the most sophisticated, state-of-the-art techniques in neuroscience. This book, edited by well-known leaders in the field, is derived fro

Drawing & the Blind

Drawing & the Blind
Author: John Miller Kennedy
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 354
Release: 1993-01-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780300054903

This groundbreaking work explores how children and adults who have been blind since birth can both perceive and draw pictures. John M. Kennedy, a perception psychologist, relates how pictures in raised form can be understood by the blind, and how untrained blind people can make recognizable sketches of objects, situations, and events using new methods for raised-line drawing. According to Kennedy, the ability to draw develops in blind people as it does in the sighted. His book gives detailed descriptions of his work with the blind, includes many pictures by blind children and adults, and provides a new theory of visual and tactile perception - applicable to both the blind and the sighted - to account for his startling findings. Kennedy argues that spatial perception is possible through touch as well as through sight, and that aspects of perspective are found in pictures by the blind. He shows that blind people recognize when pictures of objects are drawn incorrectly. According to Kennedy, the incorrect features are often deliberate attempts to represent properties of objects that cannot be shown in a picture. These metaphors, as Kennedy describes them, can be interpreted by the blind and the sighted in the same way. Kennedy's findings are vitally important for studies in perceptual and cognitive psychology, the philosophy of representation, and education. His conclusions have practical significance as well, offering inspiration and guidelines for those who seek to engineer ways to allow blind and visually impaired people to gain access to information only available in graphs, figures, and pictures.

Touch the Top of the World

Touch the Top of the World
Author: Erik Weihenmayer
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2002-03-26
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780452282940

The incredible bestselling book from the author of No Barriers and The Adversity Advantage Erik Weihenmayer was born with retinoscheses, a degenerative eye disorder that would leave him blind by the age of thirteen. But Erik was determined to rise above this devastating disability and lead a fulfilling and exciting life. In this poignant and inspiring memoir, he shares his struggle to push past the limits imposed on him by his visual impairment-and by a seeing world. He speaks movingly of the role his family played in his battle to break through the barriers of blindness: the mother who prayed for the miracle that would restore her son's sight and the father who encouraged him to strive for that distant mountaintop. And he tells the story of his dream to climb the world's Seven Summits, and how he is turning that dream into astonishing reality (something fewer than a hundred mountaineers have done). From the snow-capped summit of McKinley to the towering peaks of Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro to the ultimate challenge, Mount Everest, this is a story about daring to dream in the face of impossible odds. It is about finding the courage to reach for that ultimate summit, and transforming your life into something truly miraculous. "An inspiration to other blind people and plenty of us folks who can see just fine."—Jon Krakauer, New York Times bestselling author of Into Thin Air

Tactile Strategies for Children who Have Visual Impairments and Multiple Disabilities

Tactile Strategies for Children who Have Visual Impairments and Multiple Disabilities
Author: Deborah Chen
Publisher: American Foundation for the Blind
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2006
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780891288190

Young children who are visually impaired and have additional disabilities need to learn to use their sense of touch effectively to promote their growth, development, and ability to communicate. This manual provides teachers, early interventionists, and parents with critical information about alternative communication methods not based on the use of vision as well as countless practical strategies. Topics include assessing a child's skills, planning interventions, and selecting appropriate tactile strategies to meet the child's needs.

Reading by Touch

Reading by Touch
Author: Susanna Millar
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 631
Release: 2003-09-02
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1134916124

Reading, using vision or touch, translates abstact marks on a page into an understanding of ideas. The perceptual, linguistic and cognitive processes involved in sighted reading have been widely studied, but the use of touch raises new issues. Drawing on her research with novice and fluent braille readers, Susanna Millar examines how people initially process braille and how skill with sounds, words, meaning and spelling patterns influence processing. The main focus is on braille but findings on the 'Moon' script, vibrotactile devices, maps and 'icons' are also considered in the context of their practical implications and access to computer technology. Reading by Touch will be of enormous interest to all teachers and students of tactual reading systems, and makes a significant contribution to theories in cognitive and developmental psychology.

Psychology of Touch and Blindness

Psychology of Touch and Blindness
Author: Morton A. Heller
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2013-10-08
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1134521669

This book reviews the considerable body of research that has been done to evaluate the touch skills of blind people. With an emphasis on cognitive and neuroscientific approaches, it encompasses a wide-ranging discussion of the theoretical issues in the field of touch perception and blindness. The volume includes chapters on sensory aspects of touch, perception in blind individuals, multimodal relations and their implications for instruction and development, and new technology, including sensory aids and virtual touch. A distinctive feature of the book is the inclusion of the practical applications of research in this area. A significant characteristic of research on touch and imagery in congenitally blind individuals is that it speaks to the basic nature of spatial imagery and the importance and necessity -- or lack thereof -- of specific visual sensory experience for the acquisition of knowledge about space, spatial layout, and picture perception. As such, the book will not only appeal to researchers and professionals with an interest in touch and blindness, but also to a wider audience of cognitive psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists working in the field of perception.