PSYCHOLOGY

WHAT IS PERCEPTION?

A communicator like the psychologist has the cause to believe and understand people reasonably well. The communicator or journalist communicate with people and as such must understand human behaviour. This raises the question of ‘what is psychology? According to Ellen Pastorino and Susann Doyle-Portillo in their book ‘WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY’ defines psychology “as the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes”. From the definition above some key elements such as behaviour and mental processes is key. These elements relates to humans or society, in other words people. To ensure a better understanding one has to take a look at social psychology. Social psychology is the discipline that studies how we think about, influence and relate to other people. (James S. Nairne, PSYCHOLOGY, 4th edition). In social psychology there are several concepts which include attitude, discrimination, perception, prejudice, stereotypes. For the purpose of this assignment, perception as a concept of social psychology would be discussed.

The word perception comes from the Latin words perceptio, percipio and means “receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind senses. Perception is one of the oldest fields in psychology. In philosophy, psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. Basically, perception according to Oxford Learners Dictionary is ‘an idea, a belief or an image you have as a result of how you see or understand something’. Also in PSYCHOLOGY, 4th edition, James S. Nairne defines perception as ‘the collection of processes used to arrive at a meaningful interpretation of those sensations’. Forming perceptions is to make sense of the world, knowing where one thing ends and another begins.

The study of perception gives rise to the Gestalt school of psychology which observes that when we perceive something, properties emerge from a whole configuration that is not found in any particular component. The philosophy of perception concerns how mental processes and symbols depend on the world internal and external to the perceiver. Our perception of the external world begins with the senses, which lead us to generate empirical concepts representing the work around us, within a mental framework relating new concepts the world so its study may be important for better understanding communication, self, ID, Ego even reality

The processes of perception routinely alter what humans see. When people view something with a preconceived concept about it, they tend to take those concepts and see them whether or not they are there. When objects are viewed without understanding, the mind will try to reach for something that already recognizes, in order to process what it is viewing. That which most closely relates and the unfamiliar from our past experiences, makes up what we see when we look at things that we do not comprehend.

Perception is a requisite property of animate action without perception action would not be guided and without action perception would be pointless. But the question is Do our perceptions allow us to experience the world as it really is?’’ Can we ever know another point of view in the way we know our own? We can categorize perception as internal or external. Internal perception tells us what’s going on in our bodies. External or sensory perception tells about the world outside our bodies. However, the philosophy of perception is mainly concerned with external perception and the word is used in that sense everywhere.

Perceptions vary from person to person. Situations one found him or herself can create a perception. Different people perceive different things about the same situation but more than that, we assign different meanings to what we perceive and the meanings might change it a certain person. Our perception of ourselves in relation to the rest of the world plays an important role in our choices, behaviours and beliefs. We do not simply see ‘what’s ‘out there’ in the physical world, our perceptions are also influenced by our expectations of what will find. When you encounter to person for the first time, your initial impressions are influenced by physical factors- attractiveness, facial expression, skin color, and clothing and by our meaningful interpretations of those physical attributes. Another influence on our perceptions of other people can be explained by the theory of correspondent inferences. This occurs when we infer that the actions and behaviours of others correspond to other intentions and personalities.

Cultural groups can reflect such obvious characteristics as shared ethnicity, race or socioeconomic class but may also be based on political, religious, professional or other factors. The perception of beauty has subjective components that are culturally dependent. If you see a sloppily dressed, unshaven man weaving down the street you’re likely to form a negative first impression partly because past experiences have taught you to avoid people who fit this description. Not all people rely on physical appearance to the same extent (Livingstone, 2001) and cultural background is important too-some cultures do not rely on attractiveness as much as others (Wheeler & King 1997). If the approaching person appears attractive and well kept at least you know he or she follows some of the accepted standards and norms of culture.

Research shows that in many situations person’s pe4rceptions can be accurate but sometimes it can be inaccurate (perceptual errors). Perceptual errors caused by misapplied expectations can lead us to think we have seen or heard things those we simply and did not. There is ample evidence that expectations can strongly influence our perception of events as well as our memory for what we have seen, as in eyewitness testimony (Allport & Postman, 1947/1965; Loftus & Palmer, 1974).

In conclusion, as a communicator my aim is to deepen the social and psychological assumptions that informs and shape the public opinions and tend to get a better combination between the news, the public and the media, as such my understanding about perception and its formation would enable me achieve this aim. Knowing about perception would enable me not to be quick to form images about the individual and not be bias in my reportage. I also have the responsibility as a communicator to interpret the meaning of my reports, findings, research and thereby give a causal explanation of the way I get my findings and the effects which it produces. The meaning should be thought of somehow objectively true. Understanding perception would enhance my choice of words as a communicator because according to Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe “No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others”. Hence, it would guide me to be writing denotatively other than connotatively. Also, knowing that perception can lead to discrimination, I would ensure I do not fall by discriminating in my reportage and as realize that my interactions with people function to serve a goal or fulfill a need.