What Is Perception in Psychology ?

Meaning of Perception

• The process of perception starts from sensation. Perception is always of an object, event of a person. The persons, events or objects that are perceived are called stimuli. Whenever there is any stimulus before a person, he senses it through sense organs. He interprets these sensations to find out what the stimulus is. This is called perception. Perception is the process by which we interpret and organize the stimuli that are present in the environment. Sensation and perception are different. Sensation is a process that happens before perception. When the sensation is understood, interpreted and provided meaning by the person, it becomes perception. For example, a person can smell an odour it is sensation. But when a person can tell us after identifying which object’s odour it is, it is an example of perception.

Principles of Perceptual Organization

• We do not perceive different parts of objects rather we perceive objects as an integrated whole or as complete object. for example, we perceive a bicycle in its totality not as collection of separate parts such seat, wheel and the handle. There are lot of factors that help in organizing different parts of an objects as a meaningful whole. Gestalt psychologists formed principles of perceptual organization studying these factors. Gestalt is a school of Psychology including major contributors Kohler, Koffka and Wertheimer. Gestalt is a term for regular figure or form. Now we will understand these principles of perceptual organization.

Principles of proximity

• The objects that are closer to each other in space and time, they appear as related to each other or as a group. For example, in the figure given below, black dots do not look like as a squared pattern of dots but as a series of column of dots.

Principle of similarity

• Objects that are similar to one another and have similar characteristics are perceived as a group. In the figure given below, the small circles and squares are evenly spaced both horizontally and vertically so that the proximity does not come into play. Then also, we see alternating patterns of circles and squares.

Principle of continuity

• The principle states that we tend to perceive the objects as belonging together if they appear to form a continuous pattern. For instance, we are more likely to identify two lines a-b and c-d crossing than to identify four different lines meeting at point ‘p’.

Principle of surroundedness

• According to this principle, the areas surrounded by others tend to be perceived as figures. The image in the figure given below appears as five black figures in white background rather than the word ‘LIFE’.

Principle of closure

• We tend to fill the gaps in the stimulus and perceive the objects as whole rather than separate parts. The figure below looks as square and circle because we have a tendency to fill the gaps in the figure.

Factors affecting perception

• Perception is a mental process which is affected by many factors or determinants. These are classified into four categories.
  a. Personal factors
  b. Social factors
  c. Cultural factors
  d. Political factors

Personal factors of perception

1. Needs of the person: Hunger, thirst, sex, sleep are physical needs of a person. If a person is hungry, he will select and percept eatables among many stimuli. Psychological needs such as prestige motive, achievement motive and level of aspiration motive also influence perception along with physical needs.
2. Personal values: Value system of a person also influences the perception. One stimulus is perceived differently by different persons due to their personal values. In an experiment done by Bruner and Goodman on children from rich and poor families, poor chi ldren perceived the coins as more valuable than rich children. This way, their perception was affected by personal values.
3. Personal attitude: A person perceives an object which is favorable to his attitude. We do not perceive a friend as we perceive our enemy.
4. Moods: Our moods also influence perception of a stimulus. When the person is in happy mood, he perceives the surroundings as more favorable.

Social factors of perception: Social factors also play an important role in influencing perception. These factors are:

1. Social norms: Every society has defined social rules called social norms. Every person living in that society has to comply with these social norms. These norms also influence our perception.
2. Social customs: Every society has its own customs. Due to differences in these customs, the persons from different societies have different cognitions and perceptions.

Cultural factors of perception:

• Cultural factors also play an important role in influencing perception. People from American culture and non-European culture were shown some figures which created Muller-Lyer illusion in them. The results showed that American peoples perceived feather headed line bigger than arrow-headed line whereas nonEuropean peoples did not show this type of illusion.

Political factors of perception:

• Political factors also play an important role in influencing perception. Every political party has its own ideologies. Their perception varies according to these ideologies. Due to political association, peoples perception also differ.

Latest Post of Psychology :– Click Here

Attention in Psychology FAQ –

1. Which of the following is not an external sensory organ?
A. Nose
B. Skin
C. Ears
D. Kinesthetic
2. Who is not a Gestalt Psychologist?
A. Kohler
B. Koffka
C. Watson
D. Wertheimer
3. The initial information received through body’s sensory organs is known as:
A. perception
B. sensation
C. cognition
D. adaptation
4. ‘We have a tendency to fill in the gaps in the stimulus. Which principle of perceptual organization is this?
A. continuity
B. proximity
C. closure
D. similarity