Look around you. Notice your surroundings. What you see seems solid and real, a fixed objective reality existing "out there" separate from you. But it's not, Ralph Strauch argues in this provocative exploration of perception, reality, and the mechanisms that link them. What you perceive are images you create, part of a grand illusion that you participate in and support. The external world is a "rich reality" -- offering far wider possibilities than most of us realize. THE REALITY ILLUSION explores the mechanisms you use to to bring the particular world you experience into focus, and explores the benefits of more fully understanding the collective illusion we call reality.

Applying research findings from studies in visual perception, neurophysiology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and anthropology, Joseph D. Anderson defines the complex interaction of motion pictures with the human mind and organizes the relationship between film and cognitive science. Anderson's primary argument is that motion picture viewers mentally process the projected images and sounds of a movie according to the same perceptual rules used in response to visual and aural stimuli in the world outside the theater. To process everyday events in the world, the human mind is equipped with capacities developed through millions of years of evolution. In this context, Anderson builds a metatheory influenced by the writings of J. J. and Eleanor Gibson and employs it to explore motion picture comprehension as a subset of general human comprehension and perception, focusing his ecological approach to film on the analysis of cinema's true substance: illusion. Anderson investigates how viewers, with their mental capacities designed for survival, respond to particular aspects of filmic structure--continuity, diegesis, character development, and narrative--and examines the ways in which rules of visual and aural processing are recognized and exploited by filmmakers. He uses Orson Welles's Citizen Kane to disassemble and redefine the contemporary concept of character identification; he addresses continuity in a shot-by-shot analysis of images from Casablanca; and he uses a wide range of research studies, such as Harry F. Harlow's work with infant rhesus monkeys, to describe how motion pictures become a substitute or surrogate reality for an audience. By examining the human capacity for play and the inherent potential for illusion, Anderson considers the reasons viewers find movies so enthralling, so emotionally powerful, and so remarkably real.

The Illusion of Reality was conceived during my tenure as director of the newly established Division of Information Science and Technology at the National Science Foundation in 1979-1981 as a partial response to the need for a textbook for students, both in and out of government, that would pro vide a comprehensive view of information science as a fundamental constitu ent of other more established disciplines with a unity and coherence distinct from computer science, cognitive science, and library science although it is related to all of them. Driven by the advances of information technology, the perception of information science has progressed rapidly: today it seems well understood that information processing biological organisms and informa tion processing electronic machines have something basic in common that may subsume the theory of computation, as well as fundamental parts of physics. This book is primarily intended as a text for an advanced undergraduate or a graduate introduction to information science. The multidisciplinary nature of the subject has naturally led to the inclusion of a considerable amount of background material in various fields. The reader is likely to fmd the treat ment relatively oversimplified in fields with which he is familiar and, perhaps, somewhat heavier sailing in less familiar waters. The theme of common principles among seemingly unrelated applications provides the connective tissue for the diverse topics covered in the text and, I hope, justifies the variable level of presentation. Some of the material appears here for the first time.

Some psychologists think it is almost always wrong to deceive research subjects, while others think the use of deception is essential if significant human problems are to receive scientific study. Illusions of Reality shows how deception is used in psychological research to create illusions of reality—situations that involve research subjects without revealing the true purpose of the experiment. The book examines the origins and development of this practice that have lead to some of the most dramatic and controversial studies in the history of psychology. Social psychology may be the only area of research where the research methods sometimes are as interesting as the results. The most impressive experiments in this field produce their impact by creating situations that lead research subjects to believe that they are taking part in something other than the true experiment, or situations where subjects are not even aware that an experiment is being conducted. These illusions of reality are created by using various forms of deception, such as providing false information to people about how they perform on tests or by using actors who play roles. The research described in Illusions of Reality includes significant and controversial experiments in the history of psychology that sometimes took on the characteristics of dramatic stage productions. The ethical issues raised by this research are discussed, and the practice of using deception in research is placed in the context of American cultural values.

If you have ever asked yourself these questions, this is the book for you. What is the meaning of life? Why do people suffer? What is in control of my life? Why is life the way it is? How can I stop suffering and be happy? How can I have a successful life? How can I have a life I like to have? How can I be the person I like to be? How can I be wiser and smarter? How can I have good and harmonious relations with others? Why do people meditate to achieve enlightenment? What is the true meaning of spiritual practice? Why all beings are one?

Upon graduating college and entering the working world, many students feel lost and are often inadequately prepared. Why is this? It all boils down to the importance of work ethic, integrity, and a willingness to do research instead of just charging blindly into your professional life. This book intends to expose the mistaken beliefs of college graduates, while also providing a dedicated space for practical tips that evoke a positive mental shift. Also included is a section on career preparation, which will help you take practical steps toward discovering your potential future career. The advice given in this book covers both personal and professional life, since the level of excellence you demonstrate in one area will often impact the other. From Illusion to Reality will provide readers with a better understanding of their calling, as well as hope for the future and a passion that will drive them toward their goals. With personal anecdotes from the authors themselves as well as from graduates and working professionals from different walks of life, this book is both engaging and grounded in real life experience, not in abstract or elitist ideas. Written for average to advanced readers, this book is an easy but engaging read that will put you on the right professional track.

This work challenges the notion that anxiety and depression amount to a mental illness denoting that something is wrong with the individual sufferer. Instead, anxiety and depression are described as perfectly rational responses to difficulties in the sufferer's world, experienced subjectively by that person. An essential contrast is drawn between objective conceptions of normality (what reality ought to be as per commercial and other objectifying sources) and the reality of the individual's subjective experience of the world (abuse, unemployment, and so on). Chapters include tackling the myth of normality; examining shyness; and analysing the way in which assumptions behind the use of language can foster anxiety and depression. The book's primary purpose is to explain the meaning of anxiety as experienced by the sufferer. These insights also lead to a view, by way of secondary purpose, that the role of the therapist is not in 'curing' the individual, but rather to negotiate demystification and to provide insight into the effects of the problems in the sufferer's world, based on the sufferer and the therapist's shared subjective understanding.