In the process of perception, the environmental data from our eyes first reaches the brain stem, where it is compared with the data from our other senses and pre-evaluated emotionally. The signals are processed further in the visual cortex and then transmitted in parallel to our memory areas via two main processing streams. From there they reach the motor and emotional control centers and become visible to us. The “where-stream” running to the declarative memory serves the perception of movement, action and position, while the “what-stream” running to the semantic memory enables us to identify things according to their meaning. This structuring of our descriptive knowledge is reflected in the semantic structure of meaning and the syntactic structure of action of word language.

Our socio-cultural environment has a much higher degree of pre-structuring than nature, as we have adapted it to our needs through the process of observation and design. Settlement areas, everyday objects, works of art and communication media have developed in a process of intergenerational understanding. They can therefore also communicate their purpose to us in a vivid way.

Publication “The formation of spatial-visual competence”

Der Beitrag Our language follows our perception erschien zuerst auf Farbpsychologie.

The information potential of an environmental situation only provides us with a negligible proportion of the knowledge required for interpretation. As soon as we see more than a structured “carpet” of color and brightness differences, we move virtually in our own imaginary space. Without our visual knowledge, we perceive a phenomenal space. The experience and behavior of people born blind after surgery shows how this space of appearance is gradually structured in our imagination. We are seeing more and more signs that refer to content and indicate action contexts.

The development of vision is based on our visual knowledge structure, which adapts to the requirements of the communication process with the environment throughout our lives. The vivid imagination, which allows us to transfer knowledge to comparable situations, plays a key role here. The spatiotemporal, gestural, typological, topological and perspectival structuring of our visual knowledge allows us to orient ourselves in the process of perception and imagination. The statements of people who were born blind or have undergone surgery clearly show that spatial-visual competence interacts with the formation of a vivid language and description system. This opens up an unlimited space for us to think and act, which we can use to understand and shape our living environment.

Publication “The formation of spatial-visual competence”

Der Beitrag Imagination as the basis for freedom of thought and action erschien zuerst auf Farbpsychologie.