In the field of psychology, beginning in the 1950s, Eleanor J. Gibson's ideas and experiments revolutionized the study of development. She developed the field of perceptual learning with a series of studies that culminated in the seminal work, "Perceptual Learning and Development". More recently, Gibson has been a driving force in the shift from mentalistic models, or intellectual stages, toward an ecological view of development, involving function and action. "An Odyssey in Learning and Perception" documents a 50-year intellectual expedition in the area of learning and perception - always with an eye to combining them in a theory that may be broadly applicable to humans and nonhumans, young and old. It brings together Gibson's scientific papers (including classic studies in perception and action) spanning her work from the 1930s to the present, along with a personal essay that touches on the questions and concerns that guided her research. Gibson introduces each paper to show why the research was undertaken and the significance of the question addressed, and concludes each section with comments linking the findings to later developments and pertinent questions being addressed at the present time. "An Odyssey in Learning and Perception" provides a portrait of the growth and later flourishing of experimental psychology in 20th-century America. It is a personal account of a gifted scientist, who because of her sex faced formidable obstacles during much of her career.

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