1. In what way does man differ from animals?
2. How do we get information about the world around us?
3. How many senses has man? What are the five main ones?
4. What information do these senses supply us with?
5. What is the control centre of our sensations?
6. What is the function of a sense organ?
7. Where are the nerve impulses sent to?
8. What are the nerve fibres which transmit information from sense organs to the spinal cord called?
9. What are the nerve fibres which transmit impulses from the brain to the muscles called?
10. Do different parts of the brain specialize in the receipt and translation of nerve impulses arriving from particular sense organs?
11. In what part of the brain is the centre of sight situated?
12. In what part of the brain is the centre of touch situated?
13. Does the brain translate all the information it receives?
LESSON III
PERCEPTION
Active vocabulary
1. affect, v (smb./smth.) 1. (-./-.); 2. ,
2. aid, v ; aid, n
3. awareness, n ; be aware (of), v ; be unaware (of), v
4. consider, v 1. , ; ; 2. ( -.); ( -.); 3. , ; consideration, n 1. , ; 2. ; to take into ; 3. , ;
5. determine, v 1. , ; 2. , ; determination, n 1. , ; 2. ,
6. distort, v ; distortion, n
7. identify, v 1. , ; 2. , ; identification, n. 1. , ; , ; 2. ,
8. influence, v (smb./ smth.) ( -./-.); influence, n (on smb./ smth.) ( -./-.)
9. inherit, v , ; inherited, adj ; ; inheritance, n 1. ; 2. ; 3. , ; heredity, n ;hereditary, adj ,
10. learning, n
11. measure, v ; ; measure, n , ; measurement, n
12. perception, n 1. ; 2. , ; perceive, v 1. ; 2. ,
13. relation, n 1. , , ; 2. (.) ; 3. , ; relationship, n 1. , , ; 2. ; relate, v 1. ; 2. ,
14. total, adj 1. , ; ; ; 2. , ; 3. , .
What we sense we interpret, and this psychological process is called perception. By perception we mean the process by which we become aware of and interpret or identify the sensations we receive. There are a lot of factors that influence our perceptions. Inheritance seems to be one factor. Depth perception, for example, is a response that is found in very young children, and also in new-born animals. Learning is another influence. Perception depends on what you are used to, what you expect, and the context of your experience.
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Our learning experiences also help us to understand the differences in the sensations we receive.
Inheritance and experience are not the only factors which affect our understanding of the stimuli from our senses. All the different cues about the stimulus will determine the way we interpret it. The surrounding cues and features of the environment, derivable from all our different senses, collectively, contribute to the total process of perception. They may aid or distort our knowledge of the world.
Consider the two lines in the figure below and decide which is longer.
<-------------------------------------->
>-------------------------------------<
The top one with the arrow ends seems to be shorter, but if you measure them you will find them to be exactly the same in length. This illustrates that the total context of an object we are observing may change our perception of it. The relation between the stimulus-in-the-context and the viewer causes the perception to be incorrect. This sort of phenomenon is sometimes called a visual illusion. The movement of the pictures of the inema, where the still pictures are successively exposed to the eye to give the effect of movement, is also, in an obvious sense, illusory.
Perception is influenced by the condition or state of the person at the time. We tend to perceive things as we need or want to be rather than as they are. Standing on the street corner and waiting for someone we know, we find that we may make a number of errors of recognition. We think a person is our friend, and he is a complete stranger. The tendency to interpret things or people in a way that satisfies our motives or needs is typical of the manner in which our mental processes operate in perception. The reverse can also happen. We may not notice someone we are very familiar with, simply because we are not expecting to meet them.
The process of perception is complex and applies to the whole range of I sensations. The field of visual perception happens to be the one which has 1 been most frequently investigated and therefore most usefully discussed.
(L.S. Skurnik, F. George. Psychology for Everyman. Penguin Books, 1972. P.19 20)
Exercises
