The Gavelyte, March 1910

·The VOL. V. MARCH 1910. NO. 3 . Psychology Series --Number Four. REV. V\'. R. l\l'CHERNEY, PH. U. l'l~HCEP'l'ION. Perception is the modification Jf consciousness by means of which we f,,rm ideas of the material world. Sensation gives us color, odor, taste, t,,uch, furm, outline, extension, etc. Perception puts these impre~sions together and gives us notions of things . It depends chiefly on the senses of touch and sight to determine and distinguish sensible objects, although the other senses contribute their share to the result. The great task in early ye: 1.rs is to develop the perception of space. Space is mentally con– structed by distinguishing partR, points of the total field of perJeption until these become familiar and are readi ly associated and referred to a common object. The next step is to un~te the facts acqnired by two or more senses, that is fuse the different sense-percepts of one and the same object. Then we reach out toward other objects in the same way and movement aids us to get the notion of more and more room until indefinite extensiveness duwns opon us. Orde r of position then follows, eo that we learn to locate known objects in relation and appropriate p)c:3ce. Then we Legin to compare objects as to size and distance; and so by the steps of discrimination, identification, limitation, order and measurement, we construct space and - lay the foundation for the concept of infinite space. Attention through each sense but particularly sight and touch gives us discriminati<:rn . Each -;Pn:;e c0ntributes to identifying an object, but sight and touch play the chief part. Touch and the mm;c ular sense give us the percept of a bounding object. Movement is the chief factor in determining order as well as measurement. Jfo;tance is determined by the eye just as well as by the touch. The mind 1wrceives only qualitiL·S of objects and not the ouject. 'fhere is no such thing as immediate perception of an external object. First the object must lw brought in contact with the appropriate nerve endings. Then a sensation folluwR. 'l'hPn thP mind perceivPR tht> intPr-cranial activity, as that of the