Perception is that
organising process by which we
come to know objects
in their appropriate identity, as
trees, men, buildings,
machines and so on. Perception
does not operate like
an adding machine: impressions
are not cumulative;
rather, the mind interprets and
integrates what it
receives. We do not see the same
thing in a picture,
and report the same accident
differentially
depending on our age, sex, intelligence,
experience etc. A
distinction is often made between
sensation and
perception on the ground that sensation
is the primary
response of the sense organs, whereas
perception is the
meaningful apprehension of the
stimulus object. This
distinction is theoretical with
very little practical
value. The processes of sensation
and perception are not
separated in experience. We
never have pure
sensations of colour or form or sound
distinct from
associations with objects and other
experiences. If some
one mentions the Taj Mahal at
Agra, our nod of
recognition will probably include a
visual image of the
building supplemented by memories
of things seen there.
Odour of medicine reminds us
of a hospital ward and
a sweet taste may call to mind
experiences of a
dinner party. In response to the term
cricket many people
report feeling as though they are
bowling or batting.
Perception in these cases differs
somewhat from
imagination. In fact, imagination is
really perception, in
which there is a minimum sensory
control. Perception is
a mediating process antecedent
to the final response.
What we perceive depends in
part on the nature of
the stimulus and to an even
greater degree on
ourselves, so that perception
becomes the
comprehension of a present situation in
the light of past
experience.
The main
characteristics of perception are unity and
organisation of
feelings and emotions; attention and
selection; fixation
and persistency; learning and past
experiences etc.
Attention precedes perception and
determines its
character. Attention is a process of
give and take with the
environment. It is an active
behaviour. We are said
to be attentive when our sense
organ activity is
focused upon some defined stimulus:
sounds in the street,
changes in the weather, a cricket
match, a lecture etc.
Perception is determined
by internal personal
conditions and
external social situations. Motives,
emotions, familiarity,
attitudes, values and adjustment
are the main internal
factors which influence
perception. The
organization of stimulus, the similarity
in stimulus, closeness
in stimulus, elements of figure
and context, influence
perceptions. The presence of
others or a group also
influences perception.
Types
There are two main
types of perception i.e. (i) Depth
perception, (ii)
Movement perception.
Depth perception is
related to the linear perspective,
clearness,
interposition, shadows, gradients of texture
and movement of
objects, closure or away from the
fixation point.
Movement perception is
related to the type of motion
(i) Apparent motion
and (ii) Real motion. The apparent
motion may be
autokinetic or induced.
Social Perception
Social perception is a
subject matter of social cognition.
Our social perception
of others is initially based on
the information we
obtain about them and inferences
(attributions) we make
about the causes of their
behaviour. Our social
perceptions are grounded in our
observation of others:
their physical characteristics
and their behaviour in
particular settings. Our
observation provides
the information i.e. converted
into meaningful
inferences by our cognitive framework.
At a minimum, this
process involves placing the
information into
cognitive categories related to other
categories. We can
make simple inferences from
minimum data or
combine rich sets of information
into overall
impressions. We can also make inferences
about the causes of
other people’s behaviour as well
as our own behaviour.
Despite the smoothness in the
working of the
process, it has no guarantee of accuracy
or the possibility of
comparability with the observations
of others. Social
perception processes determine how
we react to others and
how we see ourselves. The
cognitive framework
simplifies the process of forming
impressions of others.
Many of the factors involved in
making attributions
about others also play a role in
the process of forming
self attribution. Social facilitation
occurs most readily
where the presence of the other
is motivating.
Conformity pressures
can create situations in which
the information
obtained from personal modes conflicts
with the information
obtained from social modes.
Conformity can also
occur in response to the requests
of an authority figure
and to rules governing behaviour.
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