This highly acclaimed text provides a theoretically balanced introduction to the study of basic physiology and sensory responses. More than 100 Demonstration Boxes suggest class activities using commonplace items to illustrate concepts. New Biography Boxes briefly introduce significant contributors to the field, some of whom are still active. To incorporate recent findings and new insights provided by cutting-edge methodologies, the Sixth Edition features over 600 new research citations, making it perhaps the most up-to-date textbook of its kind currently available.

While the text has retained its general organization and still uses common perceptual phenomena as examples throughout, all chapters have been rewritten and streamlined, and some sections extensively revised.