Tuesday, August 17, 2010
YOUTH URGED TO ADVOCATE FOR DECENT WORK
The youth have been called on to advocate for Decent Work as it is the surest way of eradicating poverty in the country. There is a decent work deficit-challenge, gaps and exclusions that working people face in the world of work and this deficit negates government effort of eradicating poverty and achieving the overall Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This call was made by Mr. Joseph Osei Owusu in Accra during the Youth Policy Dialogue to mark the International Youth Day. He said hundreds of thousands of workers lose their jobs merely for attempting to organize trade unions or to carry out trade union activates at their workplace, adding that 80% of these are the youth. Mr. Owusu lamented that some 200 million children aged 5-14 go to work instead of school and about 12.3 million people are trapped with force labours with more than 2.2 million people dying from work related disease and accident. According to him, there is lack of decent work and this affects young people particularly. Mr. Owusu noted that Decent work is a key element to build fair, equitable and exclusive societies being based around the principles of employment creation, workers right equality between men and women, socially protected and socially dialogued, adding that decent work is a strategy to achieve sustainable development that is centered on people. He has therefore appealed to all Civil Service Organisations (CSO) to vigorously advocate for decent work targeting young people, decision makers, employers and the government and the campaign must use different tools and strategies adapted to different audience.
YOUTH URGED TO ADVOCATE FOR DECENT WORK
The youth have been called on to advocate for Decent Work as it is the surest way of eradicating poverty in the country. There is a decent work deficit-challenge, gaps and exclusions that working people face in the world of work and this deficit negates government effort of eradicating poverty and achieving the overall Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This call was made by Mr. Joseph Osei Owusu in Accra during the Youth Policy Dialogue to mark the International Youth Day. He said hundreds of thousands of workers lose their jobs merely for attempting to organize trade unions or to carry out trade union activates at their workplace, adding that 80% of these are the youth. Mr. Owusu lamented that some 200 million children aged 5-14 go to work instead of school and about 12.3 million people are trapped with force labours with more than 2.2 million people dying from work related disease and accident. According to him, there is lack of decent work and this affects young people particularly. Mr. Owusu noted that Decent work is a key element to build fair, equitable and exclusive societies being based around the principles of employment creation, workers right equality between men and women, socially protected and socially dialogued, adding that decent work is a strategy to achieve sustainable development that is centered on people. He has therefore appealed to all Civil Service Organisations (CSO) to vigorously advocate for decent work targeting young people, decision makers, employers and the government and the campaign must use different tools and strategies adapted to different audience.
A NEUROLOGIST CAUTIONS WOMEN AGAINST HIGH HEEL SHOES
A neurologist, Dr. Richard Nyarko of the Centre for Neurology Science and Surgeon has cautioned women who are fond of using or wearing high-heel shoes to desist form the habit as it has a high risk of damaging their spine. He gave this caution during an exclusive interview at Nungua. According to him, high –heel shoes, in-take of excessive alcohol, carbohydrate and oily foods, and unbalanced meals have a tendency of affecting our spines. He said bad sleeping postures, inadequate rest as well as stress are all causative agents of spinal destruction, thus reducing an individual’s lifespan. Dr. Nyarko hinted that, one of the most worrying health problems these days is spinal problem which he attributed to lack of proper care for the spine. He has therefore called for a regular check up of our spines to avoid decay.
GPA URGES GHANAIANS TO DEVELOP GOOD READING HABBIT
The Ghana Publishers Association has made a passionate appeal to all Ghanaians to take advantage of the forthcoming Book Fair and improve the reading culture of the country. This appeal was made by the Executive Secretary of the association, Mr. Fauna Atta Frimpong in an exclusive interview with Regina Asamoah in Accra. He said, the association in its bid to help Ghanaians improve their reading culture, has changed the book fair which was held every two years to an annual event. Mr. Frimpong noted that this year’s book fair which comes off in November is targeted at the Children since they are the future leaders and hence their reading habit must be improved. This year’s fair is on the theme ‘Child Literacy, the Foundation for Future Development. A reading nation is a winning nation’ and expected to yield the highest record of attendance. Mr. Frimpong has therefore urged all Ghanaians to make reading part of their daily activities since knowledge acquisition is through reading.
WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS AND DECISION MAKING ON THE DECREASE
In recent years, Ghana has been ranked as one of the best countries which is working towards implementing and consolidating democracy. However, the reality is that, there are low levels of women’s participation both in policy-making and government representation. Presently, women account for only nineteen (19) out of two hundred and thirty (230) positions in parliament, representing 8 .3% and only 6.5% of District Chief Executives within local government structures and as few as eleven (11) out of one hundred and seventy (170) metropolitan/municipal District Chief Executives. This low numbers limit women’s contribution to development, poverty reduction and to the achievement of gender equality. In view of this, the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF Ghana) in partnership with Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Center, the Hunger Project, International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA Ghana) has launched a project dubbed “Good Governance through Increase Women’s Participation in Ghana’s Political Processes (We Know Politics II)”. The project which is expected to last for three years is targeted at twenty-four districts in ten regions. The aim of the project is to create an enabling environment where women are able to effectively participate in politics and public life. The beneficiaries of the project include women, people with disability, youth, traditional authorities, female members of parliament and men. The Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Juliana Azumah-Mensah launched the project and encouraged all women to avail and involve themselves in politics in order to address women’s issues at the local and national levels.
Regina Asamoah
Regina Asamoah
Monday, July 12, 2010
MASS COMMUNICATION
INSIGHT INTO CASTELL’S DEFINITION ON INFORMATION SOCIETY
Do we live in an era of change or in a changing era? As society changes, the old name becomes non-operational. Agricultural society gave way to industrial society, which was followed by Post Industrial society, a name given by Daniel Bell of Harvard University and Alain Touraine of France almost at the same time (incidentally both of them are sociologists.). Agriculture is the main mode of production, employing the vast majority of the people in an agricultural society. In an industrial society, industrial activities dominate the economy. In a Post Industrial society, the majority of the population is employed neither in agriculture nor in the industrial sector but instead are pushers of papers. The service sector, or the tertiary sector, becomes predominant in this stage. This is a phase that Alvin Toffler called ‘the third wave”.
In recent years, a new name has been invented for the Post- Industrial society: is it Information Society or Knowledge Society. In today’s world there seems to be an oversupply of information. Most of the information we have is not useful. The other side of information society is where we have a lot information on what is going on , but not enough on what can be done or ought to be done, and much less on how to do it. We lack a moral compass to navigate through the tickets of information. In this society one has the right to information. There is abundance of creation of information. These societies value information and have created infrastructures for the collection, processing and dissemination of information. For example: I can find out by a flick of my computer mouse, the number of road accidents in America.
In this past decade, the expression “information society” has without a doubt been confirmed as the hegemonic term, not because it necessarily expresses a theoretical clarity, but rather due to its “baptism” by the official policies of the more developed countries and the “crowning” that meant having a World Summit dedicated in its honor.
The term’s antecedents, however, date back from previous decades. In 1973, United States sociologist Daniel Bell introduced the notion “information society” in his book The Coming of Post-Industrial Society [1], where he formulates that the main axis of this society will be theoretical knowledge and warns that knowledge-based services will be transformed into the central structure of the new economy and of an information-led society, where ideologies will end up being superfluous.
This expression reappears strongly in the 90s, within the context of the development of the World Wide Web and ICTs. As of 1995, it was included in the agenda of the G7 meetings (followed by G8, which joins heads of State and governments from the most powerful nations on the planet). It has been addressed in forums of the European Community and the OECD - Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the thirty most developed countries in the World), and has been adopted by the United States government, as well as various UN agencies and the World Bank Group. All with great repercussions in the communication media. As of 1998, the term was first selected by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and then by the UN, as the name for the World Summit to be held in 2003 and 2005.
Within this context, the concept “information society” as a political and ideological construct has developed under the direction of neo-liberal globalization, whose main goal has been to accelerate the establishment of an open and “self-regulated” world market. This policy has counted on the close collaboration of multilateral organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank, in order for the weak countries to abandon national regulations or protectionist measures that “would discourage” the inversion; all with the known result of a scandalous widening of the gaps between the rich and the poor in the World.
Regardless of this reality and the key role that communication technologies have played in the acceleration of economic globalization, information society’s public image is more associated with the “friendlier” aspects of globalization, such as the World Wide Web, mobile and international phoning, TV via satellite, etc. Thus, the information society has assumed the role of the “good will ambassador” for globalization, whose “benefits” could be within the reach of all, if only the “digital divide” could be bridged.
Manuel Castells is a Professor of Sociology and Planning and Chair of the Center for Western European Studies at the University of California. He on the other hand has clearly define the information society. This definition is what I would like to discuss, taking into consideration, the key elements in the definition.
A term put forward by Castells (1993 1-2) to describe a society built on technologies of information storage, retrieval, and transmission, time-space compression, Post-Fordism, flexible accumulation, and the advance of finance capital, which is characterized by networking, globalization, and the flexibility, individuality, and instability of work.
1. Technology
Technology is the process by which humans modify nature to meet their needs and wants. Most people, however, think of technology in terms of its artifacts: computers and soft ware, air craft, pesticides , water treatment plants, birth-control pills and micro wave ovens to name a few. But technology is more than these tangible products. Technology in information communication refers to the rapid development of information. Think of ICT as the productive factor for the society that depends on information. Technology is the back bone of an information society. All the key points in Castell’s definition depends o technology. It can be seen as objects- tools, machines, instruments, weapons, and appliances-the physical devices of technical performance. As a knowledge: the know how behind technological innovations. As a process – begins with a need and ends with a solution. As socio- technical systems: the manufacture and use of objects involving people and other objects in combination. Change in the material environment is the explicit purpose of technology and not, as is the case with science. As time progress, so does technology. Technology has made things much simple for humans, and also added new ways for us to communicate.
2. Information storage.
What is information and how can it be stored? Information refers to data that has been assigned a meaning. Beer (1985 p. 28) describes information as “that which changes us”- data becomes information when it can be acted upon. In so far as information can be considered in the abstract, it is always linked to specific situation and has only limited validity (Vander Spek & Spijkervet, 1997). In an information society, information becomes a commodity which must be created. After creation, the commodity must be kept until it is needed. Therefore, information storage refers to the way information is stored, retrieved and displayed. People who store information can make money. Example: Library, Archives, Wikipedia, Google, Yahoo.
3. Retrieval
The process of getting something back. The process of getting back information stored on a computer. In an information society, information retrieval is key. That is, after creating and storing, it is able to get back or retrieve the information when needed.
4. Transmission
The act or process of passing something from one place, person, thing to another. It talks about distribution. Technology has made transmission so easy. In such a society, distribution of information is a means in itself. Distribution is a money making means or machine in an information society.
5. Time space compression
Time has been a big problem in the social and economic/ cultural environment. With the evolvement of technology it has compressed time, space and distant. Spatial meanings are changed by electronic communications. In Castells definition, he proposes that technology with its instantaneous processing of financial transactions and the speeding up of actions takes us into an era of timeless time. Time- space compression is evident when you look at human communication in the ancient days as compared to recent days.
6. Post Fordism
It is the name given to the dominant system of economic production, consumption and associated socio-economic phenomena, in most industrialized countries since the late 20th century. Definitions of the nature and scope of post fordism vary considerably and a matter of debate among shoulders. Post fordism is characterized by the following attributes
• New information technologies
• Small batch production
• Economies of scope
• Specialized products and jobs
• Emphasis on types of consumers in contrast to previous emphasis on social class
• The rise of the service and the white collar worker
• Feminization of the work force.
Post Fordism can be applied in a wider context to describe a whole system of modern social processes because Post Fordism describes the world as it is today. It brought new ways of looking at consumption and production.
7. Flexible Accumulation / Finance Capital
Those who create information and for a matter of fact in the information society the creators easily accumulates capital. For example the creators of Microsoft still accumulate wealth. This is what happens in an information society. There is a widespread trend toward capital mobility. The process is linked to the emergence of global cities increasingly more, connected to each other then the immediate regional environment (Sassen 1991) Lamberton identifies one important strand of the process, noting that information creates economies of scale in a way that allows the rich to get richer. According to him, it pays business planning large scale operations to buy better information than smaller firms (lamberton 2002 p. 337)
8. Net working
It is key in an information society. The networking that Castells identifies occurs at a number of levels and for a range of different purposes. What they appear to have in common is that they provide a structure that is both temporary an flexible enabling organisations to work together and co- operate when it benefits them but not constraining them after their usefulness has passed. Networking was integral to the development of technology. However, the development of productive and powerful global networks does have implication for individuals, communities and countries throughout the world. There are countries that are at the core of these network, notably in north America, Europe and far east, while others in Asia and south and central America fulfill supportive roles based on their cheaper labour costs. For those who are included within the network society, work patterns are changing. As technology has made it possible for large corporations to shift and distribute their production around the world.
9. Globalization.
Describes an ongoing process by which regional economies, societies and cultures have become integrated through a globe – spanning network of communication and exchange. The term is sometimes used to refer specifically to economic globalization: integration of national economies in to the international economy through trade, foreign direct investments, capital flows, migration and the spread of technology. However, globalization is usually recognized as being driven by a combination of economic, technological, socio cultural, political, and biological factors.
CRITIQUES OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY.
As with any zeitgeist there is a criticism. Two of the most notable critique has been Frank Webster’s Survey of theories of the Information Society (Webster 2002) and Christopher May’s (2000). Aside this critique there is a disadvantage of an information society that cannot be overlooked. It has brought global and local digital divide. Globally, there has been a divide. Some countries are at the core of networking whiles other lags behind. Also, whiles some countries have experienced information society, some countries have not started experiencing it. Locally, there has been a digital divide between the citizens of a country. This divide exists locally due to several factors such as age, urban –rural settings, gender, education and so on.
Age
According to experts, age is a problem in the information society. At the initial stages of information society, some age classes were excluded and this has been the problem. However, the digital gap is now narrowing but in our local market it is a a big problem.
Urban – rural setting
The urban setting (cities, towns) are exposed greatly to ICT as compared to the rural setting(villages).NB: you cannot have an information society without ICT.
Gender (male and female) it has been researched that women are late adapters to technology and as such are affected by the digital divide. But an information society does not seek to bring disparity but equality. However, technology is male dominated.
Education
Literacy and illiteracy. Those who are literate are able to get access to ICT. Even with the literate there are ICT illiterate and all this is due to the rapid development of ICT.
Do we live in an era of change or in a changing era? As society changes, the old name becomes non-operational. Agricultural society gave way to industrial society, which was followed by Post Industrial society, a name given by Daniel Bell of Harvard University and Alain Touraine of France almost at the same time (incidentally both of them are sociologists.). Agriculture is the main mode of production, employing the vast majority of the people in an agricultural society. In an industrial society, industrial activities dominate the economy. In a Post Industrial society, the majority of the population is employed neither in agriculture nor in the industrial sector but instead are pushers of papers. The service sector, or the tertiary sector, becomes predominant in this stage. This is a phase that Alvin Toffler called ‘the third wave”.
In recent years, a new name has been invented for the Post- Industrial society: is it Information Society or Knowledge Society. In today’s world there seems to be an oversupply of information. Most of the information we have is not useful. The other side of information society is where we have a lot information on what is going on , but not enough on what can be done or ought to be done, and much less on how to do it. We lack a moral compass to navigate through the tickets of information. In this society one has the right to information. There is abundance of creation of information. These societies value information and have created infrastructures for the collection, processing and dissemination of information. For example: I can find out by a flick of my computer mouse, the number of road accidents in America.
In this past decade, the expression “information society” has without a doubt been confirmed as the hegemonic term, not because it necessarily expresses a theoretical clarity, but rather due to its “baptism” by the official policies of the more developed countries and the “crowning” that meant having a World Summit dedicated in its honor.
The term’s antecedents, however, date back from previous decades. In 1973, United States sociologist Daniel Bell introduced the notion “information society” in his book The Coming of Post-Industrial Society [1], where he formulates that the main axis of this society will be theoretical knowledge and warns that knowledge-based services will be transformed into the central structure of the new economy and of an information-led society, where ideologies will end up being superfluous.
This expression reappears strongly in the 90s, within the context of the development of the World Wide Web and ICTs. As of 1995, it was included in the agenda of the G7 meetings (followed by G8, which joins heads of State and governments from the most powerful nations on the planet). It has been addressed in forums of the European Community and the OECD - Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the thirty most developed countries in the World), and has been adopted by the United States government, as well as various UN agencies and the World Bank Group. All with great repercussions in the communication media. As of 1998, the term was first selected by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and then by the UN, as the name for the World Summit to be held in 2003 and 2005.
Within this context, the concept “information society” as a political and ideological construct has developed under the direction of neo-liberal globalization, whose main goal has been to accelerate the establishment of an open and “self-regulated” world market. This policy has counted on the close collaboration of multilateral organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank, in order for the weak countries to abandon national regulations or protectionist measures that “would discourage” the inversion; all with the known result of a scandalous widening of the gaps between the rich and the poor in the World.
Regardless of this reality and the key role that communication technologies have played in the acceleration of economic globalization, information society’s public image is more associated with the “friendlier” aspects of globalization, such as the World Wide Web, mobile and international phoning, TV via satellite, etc. Thus, the information society has assumed the role of the “good will ambassador” for globalization, whose “benefits” could be within the reach of all, if only the “digital divide” could be bridged.
Manuel Castells is a Professor of Sociology and Planning and Chair of the Center for Western European Studies at the University of California. He on the other hand has clearly define the information society. This definition is what I would like to discuss, taking into consideration, the key elements in the definition.
A term put forward by Castells (1993 1-2) to describe a society built on technologies of information storage, retrieval, and transmission, time-space compression, Post-Fordism, flexible accumulation, and the advance of finance capital, which is characterized by networking, globalization, and the flexibility, individuality, and instability of work.
1. Technology
Technology is the process by which humans modify nature to meet their needs and wants. Most people, however, think of technology in terms of its artifacts: computers and soft ware, air craft, pesticides , water treatment plants, birth-control pills and micro wave ovens to name a few. But technology is more than these tangible products. Technology in information communication refers to the rapid development of information. Think of ICT as the productive factor for the society that depends on information. Technology is the back bone of an information society. All the key points in Castell’s definition depends o technology. It can be seen as objects- tools, machines, instruments, weapons, and appliances-the physical devices of technical performance. As a knowledge: the know how behind technological innovations. As a process – begins with a need and ends with a solution. As socio- technical systems: the manufacture and use of objects involving people and other objects in combination. Change in the material environment is the explicit purpose of technology and not, as is the case with science. As time progress, so does technology. Technology has made things much simple for humans, and also added new ways for us to communicate.
2. Information storage.
What is information and how can it be stored? Information refers to data that has been assigned a meaning. Beer (1985 p. 28) describes information as “that which changes us”- data becomes information when it can be acted upon. In so far as information can be considered in the abstract, it is always linked to specific situation and has only limited validity (Vander Spek & Spijkervet, 1997). In an information society, information becomes a commodity which must be created. After creation, the commodity must be kept until it is needed. Therefore, information storage refers to the way information is stored, retrieved and displayed. People who store information can make money. Example: Library, Archives, Wikipedia, Google, Yahoo.
3. Retrieval
The process of getting something back. The process of getting back information stored on a computer. In an information society, information retrieval is key. That is, after creating and storing, it is able to get back or retrieve the information when needed.
4. Transmission
The act or process of passing something from one place, person, thing to another. It talks about distribution. Technology has made transmission so easy. In such a society, distribution of information is a means in itself. Distribution is a money making means or machine in an information society.
5. Time space compression
Time has been a big problem in the social and economic/ cultural environment. With the evolvement of technology it has compressed time, space and distant. Spatial meanings are changed by electronic communications. In Castells definition, he proposes that technology with its instantaneous processing of financial transactions and the speeding up of actions takes us into an era of timeless time. Time- space compression is evident when you look at human communication in the ancient days as compared to recent days.
6. Post Fordism
It is the name given to the dominant system of economic production, consumption and associated socio-economic phenomena, in most industrialized countries since the late 20th century. Definitions of the nature and scope of post fordism vary considerably and a matter of debate among shoulders. Post fordism is characterized by the following attributes
• New information technologies
• Small batch production
• Economies of scope
• Specialized products and jobs
• Emphasis on types of consumers in contrast to previous emphasis on social class
• The rise of the service and the white collar worker
• Feminization of the work force.
Post Fordism can be applied in a wider context to describe a whole system of modern social processes because Post Fordism describes the world as it is today. It brought new ways of looking at consumption and production.
7. Flexible Accumulation / Finance Capital
Those who create information and for a matter of fact in the information society the creators easily accumulates capital. For example the creators of Microsoft still accumulate wealth. This is what happens in an information society. There is a widespread trend toward capital mobility. The process is linked to the emergence of global cities increasingly more, connected to each other then the immediate regional environment (Sassen 1991) Lamberton identifies one important strand of the process, noting that information creates economies of scale in a way that allows the rich to get richer. According to him, it pays business planning large scale operations to buy better information than smaller firms (lamberton 2002 p. 337)
8. Net working
It is key in an information society. The networking that Castells identifies occurs at a number of levels and for a range of different purposes. What they appear to have in common is that they provide a structure that is both temporary an flexible enabling organisations to work together and co- operate when it benefits them but not constraining them after their usefulness has passed. Networking was integral to the development of technology. However, the development of productive and powerful global networks does have implication for individuals, communities and countries throughout the world. There are countries that are at the core of these network, notably in north America, Europe and far east, while others in Asia and south and central America fulfill supportive roles based on their cheaper labour costs. For those who are included within the network society, work patterns are changing. As technology has made it possible for large corporations to shift and distribute their production around the world.
9. Globalization.
Describes an ongoing process by which regional economies, societies and cultures have become integrated through a globe – spanning network of communication and exchange. The term is sometimes used to refer specifically to economic globalization: integration of national economies in to the international economy through trade, foreign direct investments, capital flows, migration and the spread of technology. However, globalization is usually recognized as being driven by a combination of economic, technological, socio cultural, political, and biological factors.
CRITIQUES OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY.
As with any zeitgeist there is a criticism. Two of the most notable critique has been Frank Webster’s Survey of theories of the Information Society (Webster 2002) and Christopher May’s (2000). Aside this critique there is a disadvantage of an information society that cannot be overlooked. It has brought global and local digital divide. Globally, there has been a divide. Some countries are at the core of networking whiles other lags behind. Also, whiles some countries have experienced information society, some countries have not started experiencing it. Locally, there has been a digital divide between the citizens of a country. This divide exists locally due to several factors such as age, urban –rural settings, gender, education and so on.
Age
According to experts, age is a problem in the information society. At the initial stages of information society, some age classes were excluded and this has been the problem. However, the digital gap is now narrowing but in our local market it is a a big problem.
Urban – rural setting
The urban setting (cities, towns) are exposed greatly to ICT as compared to the rural setting(villages).NB: you cannot have an information society without ICT.
Gender (male and female) it has been researched that women are late adapters to technology and as such are affected by the digital divide. But an information society does not seek to bring disparity but equality. However, technology is male dominated.
Education
Literacy and illiteracy. Those who are literate are able to get access to ICT. Even with the literate there are ICT illiterate and all this is due to the rapid development of ICT.
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.
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.
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