Conceptual Framewok

This chapter deals with the study related literature and studies used by the researchers in conducting the study. It covers the state of the art, related literature (contains both foreign and local literature), related studies (contains both foreign and local literature), synthesis of the state of the art and gap/s bridge by the present study.

State of the art

This study made used of the information taken from the related literature and related studies that were gathered. They served as bases for conceptualizing study's research problem, research design and research methodology.

Related literature

Perceptual set is the expectation of a person to see or perceive something based on prior experience. Writers sometimes use this concept in movie scripts in a humorous scene. For example, people expect a large man to have a very low voice. This is a stereotype. If instead, the large man in a movie speaks in a very high pitched voice, the audience is surprised and therefore finds the scene funny (Bruner, 2007).

Perceptual set works in two ways. The perceiver has certain expectations and focuses attention on particular aspects of the sensory data: This he calls a Selector'. The perceiver knows how to classify, understand and name selected data and what inferences to draw from it. This he calls an 'Interpreter'. It has been found that a number of variables, or factors, influence perceptual set, and set in turn influence perception. The factors include: expectation, emotion, motivation and culture (Vernon, 2007).

Although intimately related, sensation and perception play two complimentary but different roles in how we interpret our world. Sensation refers to the process of sensing our environment through touch, taste, sight, sound, and smell. This information is sent to our brains in raw form where perception comes into play. Perception is the way we interpret these sensations and therefore make sense of everything around us (Heffner, 2003).

Sensation seeking is a personality trait defined by the search for experiences and feelings, which are varied, novel, complex and intense, and by the readiness to take physical, social, legal, and financial risks for the sake of such experiences. Risk is not an essential part of the trait, as many activities associated with it are not risky. However, risk may be ignored, tolerated, or minimized and may even be considered to add to the excitement of the activity (Zuckerman, 2009).

Risky behavior can be an expression of a normal, genetically influenced personality trait, sensation seeking. Its expression in risky behaviors such as extreme and risky sports, vocations, substance abuse, unsafe sex, and crime, among others, is the topic of this fascinating and accessible book. In Sensation Seeking and Risky Behavior, Marvin Zuckerman (2006) offers a comprehensive view of the role