4. MEANING OF PERCEPTION
The Process by which we come to know
the world around us…An individual’s
window to the world.
Perception may be defined as the process
by which an individual selects, organizes and
interprets stimuli into a meaningful and
coherent picture of the environment in which
he lives.
5. “ WE DON’T SEE THINGS
AS THEY ARE,
WE SEE THINGS AS WE
ARE.”
9. The Perceptual Process
1. Sensation
An individual’s ability to
detect stimuli in the
immediate environment.
2. Selection
The process a person
uses to eliminate some of
the stimuli that have
been sensed and to
retain others for further
processing.
3. Organization
The process of placing
selected perceptual
stimuli into a framework
for “storage.”
4. Translation
The stage of the
perceptual process at
which stimuli are
interpreted and given
meaning.
13. SENSATION
It is the activity of the senses.
A state of emotional excitement.
TWO FACTORS IN ORDER FOR SENSATION
TO OCCUR:
1. There must be a stimulus.
2. There must be receptors that are
sensitive to the stimulus.
15. What is the difference between sensation and
perception?
• Sensation is gathering
info from the
environment via your
senses.
• Perception is
understanding what is
being sensed!
16. What do we call it when there is a mismatch
between sensation and perception – when
we misinterpret the info?
17. Perceptual errors
The perceptual process may result in a person
making errors in judgement or understanding
of another person. The most common types
of perceptual errors are:
Accuracy in judgment
Perceptual defence
Stereotyping
The halo effect
Projection
Role of culture
18. Perceptual errors
Accuracy in judgment
Similarity error – assuming that people who are
similar to us ( in terms of background, interests and
hobbies) will behave like us.
Contrast error – comparing people to others rather
than to some absolute standard.
Overweighting of negative information – a tendency
to overreact to something negative.
Race, age, and gender bias – tendency to be more or
less positive based on one’s race, age, of sex.
First-impression error – forming first impressions that
are resistant to change.
19. Perceptual error
Perceptual defence
The tendency for people to protect themselves against
ideas, objects, or situations that are threatening.
o Stereotyping
The belief that all members of a specific group share similar traits
and behaviours.
o Halo effect
A tendency to colour everything we know about a person
because of one recognizable favourable or unfavourable trait.
o Projection
tendency to see one’s traits in others.
o The role of culture –
Culture influence our perception in selecting information and
exhibiting a behavioural pattern in situations
20. CONCLUSION
The Inferential System has its mysteries,
but we can also know a lot about it. This
chapter discussed how it works
automatically (does not need prompting or
direction from conscious) and how it
combines evidence from all of the sensory
modalities. There was also ample evidence
for the idea that we are conscious of just
the conclusions from the Inferential System
and cannot introspect into its processing.