Issues in shape perception

摘要

The purpose of this paper is to ask two questions about shape and then to explore a mildly different version of the usual concept of shape. The first question concerns the issues involved in assessing the quality or suitability of a particular representation for shape. It is pointed out that this question cannot be answered without identifying what is the purpose of creating a representation of shape. The second question concerns the issues that need to be addressed to decide whether biological organisms actually need representations of shape. Once again, the discussion revolves around the purposes for which representations of shape might be needed. The paper concludes with a discussion of the relationship between shape and manipulation. It is argued that the best representation of the shape of something is one that records the likely interactions between that thing and its environment.