Abstract

The advent of the computer age enabled significant developments in the study of visual representation, particularly in the emergence of computational theories which are able to make sense of the large volume of data collected. This background leads into a discussion of the “Literalist View,” which explains the phenomenon of perception as the product of similar logical computations by the brain to reconcile visual stimuli with existing mental “retinotopic structures,” which are assumed to be truthful representations of our world. The chapter then cites several works—namely, that of Churchland, Grimes, and the Nina experiments—that discuss the loopholes in the theory. An alternative, non-Literalist theory is then offered—the “Functional View”—which provides a different insight into how the brain interprets visual stimuli. Specifically, it is posited that there is evidence of selective visual representation, dependent on the importance of the visual stimuli to the particular individual.