The Psychology of Visual Perception by Ralph Norman Haber and Maurice Hershenson (review)

14 Books system of self-management ‘through which cultural and creative efforts are associated’ (p. 29). Yugoslav selfmanaging socialism is based on the idea that workers are entitled to take part in decision-making of public and social affairs. As the author points out: ‘The vital criterion on which a cultural system passes the acid test of democracy is the mode of decision-making’ (p. 25). The cultural processes determined by ‘self managerial relations which guarantee the political and cultural equality of rights of people and nationalities in the Yugoslav community’ (p. 39) are formulated in the programme and resolutions of the 6th congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia and in the Yugoslav Federal Constitution. In practice, however, the decision-making process has to contend with bureaucratic mentality ‘which [has] not yet been wholly overcome’ (p. 38) and ‘does not wish to be disturbed in its economic, cultural or any other aspects’ (p. 39). In this way, ‘acting on behalf of society, government power as embodied in the State tends to change into a force above society’ (p. 26). ‘All grants from the public treasury are considered an act of State.’ ‘ . ..nor is it evident that they are actually a contribution of the working people. The surplus value is alienated from the workers and, consequently, also the right to decide on its use’ (p. 22). One of the author’s major difficulties, as he says, was the ‘narrow limit set by Unesco’. He has allowed this technical limitation to extend to his definition of culture. He uses the term in an extremely narrow sense (asserting that this is so in Yugoslavia) and his study is restricted ‘to institutions and activity directly concerned with the arts’ (p. 9). This means that philosophy, poetry, literature, education and scienceare not discussed. No art academies are mentioned. Literature does appear briefly in the person of I. AndriC, a novelist of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nobel prizewinner for literature. The author does not devote much consideration to problems of multi-nationality, simply mentioning in passing ‘disparities in development levels’ and ‘old antagonisms’ (p. 38). He seems to evade these problems to some extent. For instance, it is not clear whether the book statistics include those in Croatian published in Yugoslavia, banned there, but available abroad. Practical aspects discussed include sources of establishment , distribution, the form of financing (‘the communal and intercommunal communities’ (p. 49), ‘earning by cultural institutions’ (p. 51), ‘contribution from economic organizations’ (p. 53)), position of artists (the author asks ‘do all who graduate from the art academies automatically acquire the status of artist? (p. 59)), diffusion of culture (libraries, radio, television, cinema) and conservation of nature. Statistical data are sometimes given for one or more of the republics, sometimes for Yugoslavia as a whole. Comparisons are often made with pre-war Yugoslavia. Personnel requirements are given for Serbia, taken as a model, with the heaviest demand in the library and archive services. 1500art and 800 music teachers are needed, 75 % of university and college-educated experts employed in culture live in Belgrade. The author is ‘lacking’ data for other republics, but assumes that the situation is similar. The emigration of workers abroad (a bigger number than the population of Montenegro), called the ‘seventh republic’ and working chiefly in West Germany, is not considered at all. This commendable publication, unfortunately without a bibliography, provides valuable information on the position of culture in Yugoslavia. The Psychology of Visual Perception. Ralph Norman Haber and Maurice Hershenson. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York, 1973. 398 pp., illus. E6.50. Reviewed by Michael Thompson* This is a textbook at an undergraduate level designed to teach. It contains a good deal of redundancy, but it will *1 Remez Rd., Kadimah, Israel. well familiarize students with the subject. Persons already conversant with the subject may find it rather slow and wordy. There are some errors in the diagrams, but the text is so thorough that the reader should spot them. Mathematics has been avoided, indeed, some definitions of terms are vague and others omitted, so the book will not serve as a source book except that there are ample references for further study. The design and layout of the book...