Abstract

This dissertation identifies four different influential scientific images which have been influential in the field of psychoacoustics and perception more generally. I argue that these images have the effect of framing the problem of perception as one of scientific observation. Typically, the mechanical middle and inner ears are seen as a scientific instrument, and the mind and/or brain will be found using the output of the instrument within the requirements of one of the four images. ;The German scientist Hermann Helmholtz was an important source for innovations in the study of hearing, and he also discussed in detail parallels between scientific and perceptual knowledge. I compare his ideas with those of his contemporaries, including psychophysicists, hearing scientists, and psychological and evolutionary theorists. As ideas and practices of scientific observation have evolved, the meaning of observation in perception has shifted, and conflicts between different images have surfaced. Topics discussed to illustrate the four images and their conflicts include: Helmholtz's theory of unconscious inferences, the measurement of the auditory critical bandwidth, the rise of objective psychophysics, the Theory of Signal Detectability, William James' notion of mentality and purpose, L. L. Thurstone's psychological theory that emphasized the subject instead of the stimulus, and an interpretation of adaptationist theory as emphasizing winning over disinterested knowledge