Carolyn Chan
HUC101.1219
3/20/06
Essay 2
QUIZ 1
People all over the world have different perception, some are shallow, and some
are deep. However, perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting
information in order to give personal meaning to the communication we receive. There
are three steps in perception, these are: selection, organization, and interpretation.
However, cognitive complexity affects our perception of the world. It changes the way
people communicate with others.
First, our human brain cannot stimulate large amount of information, want and we
only puts in what we are interested. Selection is the sorting of one stimulus from another.
Moreover, there are three kinds of selection: selective exposure, which is the deliberate
choices we make to experience or to avoid particular stimuli. It is the selecting of one
thing over another that are in the same category, like between explicated song lyrics and a
clean song lyrics; selective attention, which is the focusing on specific stimuli while
ignoring or downplaying other stimuli. Concentrating to the things or information that
interest you, and trying to eliminate other extra stimuli; and selective retention, which is
the processing, storing, and retrieving of information that we have already selected,
organized, and interpreted. Selective retention happens because only portions of
information retain, and as I have said earlier, human brain cannot stimulate large amount
of information.
Second, if the information or things that are needed to be perceive is not organize,
no matter how good the person what will perceives, it would probably takes time to
understand what's the information was about. Organization is the categorizing of stimuli
in our environment in order to make sense of them. It plays an important role in how we
perceive and communicate about events, objects, and people. For example, I have been
invited on my friend's birthday party, just when I enter the room, I first spread my sight to
the people and look for my friends, so I won't be left alone with the people I don't know.
Third, if you know how to select, and organize, but you don't know how to
interpret, these things are nothing. Interpretation is the assigning of meaning to stimuli. It
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Carolyn Chan
HUC101.1219
3/20/06
Essay 2
is important to interpret the things that we see, feel, hear, smell, and taste, because this
influence on how we perceive and communicate. Opinions, past and present experiences
also help us interpret things.
Finally, in our world, cognitive complexity have some effect on people perceiving
thing around. However, this differs from people to people. For a child, they have simple
cognitive system, unlike adults that can distinguish between and among different
experiences that help develop their cognitive system. Cognitive complexity changes the
way people communicate with others; interpret things and situations; and help consider
multiple perspectives of the changing world.
To wrap up, perception is connected to cognitive complex. Perception helps
people to select, organize, and interpret things that are important in the world of
communication. And also, cognitive complexity is the mental structure that we use to
shape our perception.
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