Nature of Perception – Part-I

Meaning and Definition

Meaning – Perception has been derived from the Latin word ‘Perceptio’  which means ‘receiving, collection’.

Definition – The process by which we recognize, interpret or give meaning to the information provided by sense organs is called perception (NCERT).

Introduction

          Perception is one of the topics of cognitive domain. The information received from senses is selected, organized and interpreted (Baron, 1993) to give meaning that helps in understanding the environment. It is the process of making sense out of raw material provided by the senses. It is mediated by intellect, prior knowledge, motivation, cultural perspective, memory, learning, emotional state, characteristics of stimulus, expectation and other psycho-physiological processes. Perception is interpretation of sensory inputs.

Nature of Perception

          Interestingly perception is subjective as well as objective complex process. Subjective in the sense that no two individual perceive the same stimulus in similar fashion (E.g. looking at rising sun). Objective in a sense that certain stimuli are perceived exactly same by all people at all times except those with psycho-biological deficiency (E.g. perception of colours). It represents the immediate mental state of the perceiver (E.g. Projective methods). Every individual is similar in objective aspects but differs in subjective aspects. The differential subjective aspect leads to uniqueness in behaviour where perception is one of the decisive factors. Perception is the product of information processing. The processing of information is assisted by the generation of virtual relevant images which are the basic building blocks of perception. Depending upon the situations perception can by achieved by analysis or synthesis of information.

          It highly correlates with conscious observation skills (the finer the observation skills the lesser the gap between the perception and reality). Remember perception is not the exact mirror image of reality rather representative one which is prone to modification. The perception influences and get influenced (two way relationship) by various psychological process such as arousal, motivation, emotions, overt behaviour etc.

Reference:

1.       NCERT, XI Psychology Text book.

2.       Ciccarelli, S. K. & Meyer, G. E. (2016). Psychology. Noida: Pearson India.

3.       Baron, R. (1993).  Psychology.

4.       https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/45837592/more-than-a-body-mind-perception-and-the-nature-of-objectification.

5.       https://nobaproject.com/modules/multi-modal-perception

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