Darrell McIntyre
Interpersonal Communications
Research Paper
January 20, 2015
“Perception”
Perception is the process of gathering information through our senses and from that point
we can organize and make sense of what we are perceiving. There are five senses that we use to
help us perceive things which are: sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. Perception can vary from
individual to individual because of personal, socioeconomic and cultural differences. Everyone’s
story is different and people come from all across the world so, of course, perception will vary
from person to person. There are also a variety of different ethnic backgrounds which can also
have an effect on someone’s perception. I have friends from different ethnic backgrounds than
me and I’m sure we all don’t have the exact perception of certain things. Some other factors I
think can have an effect on someone’s perception are things like: race, age, past experience, and
gender. Males are different from females and they will not always perceive things in the same
way, because females are more emotional than men and their emotions can play a role in
perception.
There are experiences from my past that have had an impact on my future perception of
things because I am much wiser and I understand things better. Personal experience has a great
impact on perception because someone could have a horrible memory of a certain thing while
someone could have a joyful memory of that same thing. Age is very important too because
children, teenagers and adults all see things differently and as children grow older they begin to
understand things from an intellectual and experienced point. The race of people also plays a role
in perception because of the different ethnic backgrounds that people come from and the way
their family or traditions view things.
There is a certain perception process that each individual goes through which explains
why we perceive things the way we do.
The perception process consists of the perception of select stimuli that travels
through our perceptual filters, are organized into our existing structures and patterns, and
then understood based on previous experiences. Although perception is generally a
cognitive and psychological process, how we perceive individuals and substances around
us affects our communication. Individuals are usually inclined to respond otherwise to an
object or person that we perceive favorably, rather than something we find disapproving.i
The perception process involves using three key steps to perceive things key and those
steps are: selection, organization and interpretation. “Selecting is the first step of the
perception process, this step is where we tend to focus our attention on certain incoming
sensory information.”ii “Organizing is the second step of the perception process, in which
we sort and classify information that we perceive based on innate and learned cognitive
patterns.
There are three ways that individual’s sort things into patterns and those three
things are; proximity, similarity, and difference.”iii Interpretation is the final step of the
perception process, and this step is where individuals assign meaning to their experiences
using mental structures known as schemata. Schemata are like databases of stored, related
information that we use to interpret new experiences.” iv
Visual perception is also one of the several ways people can perceive things with
their senses and use imagery to understand things. “Visual information processing refers
to the visual cognitive skills that allow us to process and interpret meaning from the
visual information that we gain through our eye sight. Visual perception plays an
important role in spelling, mathematics, and reading.”v The process of visual perception
is subdivided into categories including visual discrimination, visual figure ground, visual
closure, visual memory, visual sequential memory, visual form constancy, visual spatial
relationships, and visual-motor integration.”vi Visual discrimination is basically being
able to recognize various images and also the ability to differentiate between different
images. Visual memory is the process in where you come across different images and
you select the things you want to remember over the things you don’t want to remember.
“One of the most striking aspects of perception is constancy. Constancy refers to
how individuals perceive objects, which remains the same despite changes in their image
on the retina. Constancy is seen in the perception of a number of different properties of
objects such as size, shape, color, and orientation.”vii There are also three other aspects of
perception and those are: perception of motion, form perception and depth perception.
“The perception of motion has been the subject of much research. The mystery lies in
how perceived movement cannot be accounted for by the movement of an object's image
across the retina.”viii
“Form perception is what allows us to recognize objects and differentiate them
from other various objects. Rather than a loose grouping of apparently separate stimuli,
we see the world as organized with interrelated objects having definite shapes and
forms”ix “In the 1800s researchers discovered that our binocular vision greatly aids depth
perception. Binocular vision refers to having two eyes that are at slight distances from
one another, so that each receives a slightly different perspective of the object or scene
being focused upon.”x
Perception is essential in multiple areas of life such as: school, friends, public and
the business field and work force. “Perception is important in each and every sector, be it
business, profession or services. When people form a negative perception about a
business or a service provider or a professional individual, that business, service provider
or professional individual will not be able to perform will in the professional world. If
there was an individual that perceived to be dishonest or murderer or corrupt, no matter
whether those allegations are false, cannot win the sympathy of the mass people. On the
other hand, a positive perception can take a business or professional to the highest step of
the ladder of success. For example, some medical doctors in Bangladesh have built up
such an extraordinary positive perception about themselves that their patients start
queuing well before their surgery hours begin.”xi
“Social perception allows individuals to make judgments and impressions about
other people. These judgments are primarily based on observation, although pre-existing
knowledge influences how observed information is understood. Social perception applies
to the first stages in which people process information in order to determine another
individual or group of individual's mind-set and intentions. Social perception also helps
to interpret other's actions so that additional information can be quickly inferred in order
to foresee behavior. These perceptions can influence an individual's behaviors and
attitudes.”xii
There are two theories of social perception that people may or may not use when
they are trying to understand things. These two theories are: Implicit Personality Theory
and Social Comparison Theory and they describe the way people understand different
things they may encounter. “Implicit personality theory states that if an individual
observes certain traits in another individual, he or she tends to assume that the person's
other personality traits are coexisting with the initial trait. This means that an individual
may associate one personality trait, such as kindness, with a group of personality traits
they expect to see displayed together. If a person observes a stranger being kind, implicit
personality theory suggests they may also assume that the stranger is thoughtful, loyal,
and easy-going, if the observer's experience suggests that kind people also tend to display
these additional traits.”xiii
Psychologist Leon Festinger proposed social comparison theory, which states that
there is a drive within individuals to gain accurate self-evaluations. According to this
theory, individuals evaluate their own opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to
others in order to reduce uncertainty and learn how to define one's self. Social
perceptions of others are compared to self-perceptions to give an individual a better
understanding of where he or she falls in society. Social comparison research has
suggested that comparisons with others who are better off or superior, or an upward
comparison, can lower self-regard. However, comparing one's self to those who are
worse off or inferior, a downward comparison, can elevate self-regard.”xiv
Perception plays a huge role in my life because it kind of gives me an idea about
the world and the reality of it. Also I use perception when I am around my friends and
family because it’s a form on communication. A first impression is important in the way I
perceive people and it usually gives me a sense of how that person and their intentions. I
am a college athlete and I am sure when I am playing on the basketball court people
develop a first impression of me and then try to form their perception of me. People
should be careful of how they perceive and judge people because a lot of times they could
be wrong and they didn’t give that individual a chance to show the real them. Every day
that you wake up you form a perception of something or someone so be cautious of the
way you perceive and judge certain things or certain people.
i
"Chapter 2 Communication and Perception." Communication and Perception. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
Chapter 2 Communication and Perception." Communication and Perception. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
iii
Chapter 2 Communication and Perception." Communication and Perception. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
iv
Chapter 2 Communication and Perception." Communication and Perception. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
v
Visual Perceptual Processing." Visual Perceptual Processing. Web. 21 Jan. 2015.
vi
Visual Perceptual Processing." Visual Perceptual Processing. Web. 21 Jan. 2015.
vii
"Perception - Perceptual Systems, Historical Background, Innate And Learned - Classical Perceptual Phenomena,
Broad Theoretical Approaches, Current Research/future Developments." - JRank Articles. 21 Jan. 2015.
viii
"Perception - Perceptual Systems, Historical Background, Innate And Learned - Classical Perceptual Phenomena,
Broad Theoretical Approaches, Current Research/future Developments." - JRank Articles. 21 Jan. 2015.
ix
"Perception - Perceptual Systems, Historical Background, Innate And Learned - Classical Perceptual Phenomena,
Broad Theoretical Approaches, Current Research/future Developments." - JRank Articles. 21 Jan. 2015.
ii
x
"Perception - Perceptual Systems, Historical Background, Innate And Learned - Classical Perceptual Phenomena,
Broad Theoretical Approaches, Current Research/future Developments." - JRank Articles. 21 Jan. 2015.
xi
"Perception - an important factor in politics." The Financial Express (Bangladesh). (March 28, 2014 Friday): 1299
words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2015/01/26.
xii
"Perception - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. Web. 26 Jan. 2015.
xiii
"Perception - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. Web. 26 Jan. 2015
Perception - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. Web. 26 Jan. 2015
xiv