The Computer Simulation of Behaviour by Michael J. Apter (review)

‘SocialPerception’,whereitisshownhowperception is modified by a socialcontent, and the final one on ‘The Nature of Perception’. Visual artists are not, however, concerned only by the chapters on vision but by those on the other senses as well because of the interrelation of the senses. This is evident in particular in space perception where the other senses ‘are factors in changing what is experienced visually’. I nowgivea fewsignificantextractsfromthe book that emphasize the book‘s obvious relevance to the artist: From the ‘Perceptual Constancies’ chapter: ‘When a person attempts to drawjust what he sees when he is lookingat a tilted circulartarget, he isput into conflict. At one instant the most obvious feature of his lookingis that he is lookingat a tilted circle; the stimulus field is so structured that he perceives this with no doubt. If he is to picture on paper what he sees,he might even draw a circle,just as he would say that it is a circle. This act would be mere identification. But he not only sees a circle; he sees that it is tilted. How is he to picture that? From the ‘Space Perception’ chapter: ‘Although the texture-gradient conceptof the essentialnature of the organism’s visually perceived surrounds is impliedto someextentin what artists and draftsmen have been doing for centuries, it is a recent development . ...Whereas it is known that two dimensions define a plane and can be represented on another plane (such as the receiving surface of the retina), how the third dimension can be represented is an age-old question.’ From the ‘The Nature of Perception’ chapter: ‘The more one describes perception as obtaining information from the environment, ...through sensory mechanisms,the more one comes to realize that although invariances are a basis for the continuity and permanence of “perceived. objects”, there is an endlesspossibilityin the perceiver for the construction of new relationships between himself and the environment. ...The broad and endless possibilityoftheconstructionalnature ofperception, although of sensory realities, allows when it is viewed from outside perception a kind of activity that is best described as a kind of symbolism.’ This is a book that can be useful to all artists who wishto become more awareof the way in whichthey perceive the world and of how their works will be perceived by the spectator. The Computer Simulation of Behaviour. Michael J. Apter. Hutchinson, London, 1970. 180 pp., illus. Reviewed by Roy Ascott* The analogy between computers and brains is dealt with in this book in a way that will appeal not 296 Books * Ontario College of Art, 100 M a u l St., Toronto 2 6 , Canada. only to students of psychology, for whom it will be a valuable text book, but equally to artists. It is extremely well writtenin clear, simplelanguageand succeedsin combininga factualaccountof developmentsincomputerscienceandpsychologywithmore speculative passages that discuss the nature of human creativity, the mind/body problem and the future possibilitiesof computermodellingof human behaviour. Thetopicsdealtwithconstitutea rangeofinterests that increasingly have captured the attention of many artists around the world-which, in a sense, can be seen to comprise a new internationalismin art-not stylistic but conceptual and procedural. Chapter heading, such as ‘Brains’; ‘Computer and Models’; ‘Cybernetics’; ‘Learning’; ‘Pattern: Recognitionandcreation’;‘Language’;‘Personality and Consciousness’ show right away the relevance of much of this book to new thinking in art. Here, conciselypresented, is an approach that will enable the artist-reader to familiarize himself with basic cybernetics theory, techniques of problem solving, heuristics, various kinds of transactions with computers and recenttheoriesof language. Thequestion ofemotionandhumanmotivation(withsomespecial referenceto art) are raised and this leadsto a discussion of the mind/body problem and, finally, of the relationshipbetween man and machine. There will be special interest at the point where Apter questions the nature of art and what constitutes creative behaviour in humans, in order to simulatesuchbehaviourin computers. It is asmuch for the questions it raises as for the information it provides that will make the book particularly interesting to artists. These questions are not altogether original but they take on a coherent perspective viewed against the well ordered background of facts and theories. At the same time the author seemslessableto avoidrather over-simplified generalizations when dealing with art than when discussing computer science or psychology. For example...