Perception Research Paper

1. PERCEPTION

1.1 Introduction and Definition

Perception is the process by which we organize and interpret information about the world that has been collected by our sensory receptors. The story of perception begins outside the body with external stimuli - the physical energy in dabbles of light and pitches of sound - that happen to impinge on receptors in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin and elsewhere. At those receptors, the physical stimuli are converted into neural signals - into the language of our nervous system- by a process called transduction. The neural signals, which convey raw sensations, are in turn transformed into perceptions, that is the images that we consciously experience and which, are most recognizable, meaningful and clearly placed in space and time.

Perception serves to interpret sensations in all of their various forms of modalities. These modalities include vision (eyes), audition (ears), olfaction (nose), the tactile senses (skin), gestation (tongue) and the vestibular senses (inner ear).

Perception is important because it is the source of virtually all that we know about the world around us. Perception allows us to appreciate the joys and beauties of our environment and also gives us some critical tools, which we need in order to survive (Pomerantz, 2003).

Perception is defined as the process which an individual gives meaning to the environment. It involves organizing and interpreting various stimuli into a psychological experience. Perception is a cognitive process. Perception helps individuals select, organize, store and interpret stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. Because each person gives her own meaning to stimuli, different individuals "see" the same thing in different ways (Gibson, Ivancevich & Donnelly, 2000).

Through perception, people process information inputs into decisions and actions. Perception is a way of forming impressions about oneself, other people and daily life experiences. It is also a screen or filter through which information passes before having an effect on people. The quality or accuracy of a person's perceptions has a major impact on the quality of their decisions or actions in a given situation (Wood, Chapman, Fromholtz, Morrison, Wallace, Zeffane, Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn, 2004).

Figure 1: The Perceptual Process

Source: Wood, Chapman, Fromholtz, Morrison, Wallace, Zeffane, Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn (2004)

2. DETERMINANTS OF PERCEPTION

2.1 Factors that influence Perception

A number of factors can contribute to perceptual differences and the perceptual process among people. These are summarized in Figure 2 and include characteristics of the perceiver, the perceived and the situation.

The Perceiver

A person's needs or motives, past experiences, values, interests, attitudes and expectations may all influence the perceptual process. A person with a negative attitude towards unions, for example, may look for antagonism even during routine visits by local union officials in the organization.

The Setting (also known as the situation)

The time, social and work context of the perceptual setting can also influence the perceptual process. Hearing a subordinate call the boss by their first name may be acceptable in Australia and New Zealand but not in Germany or Malaysia.

The Perceived (also known as the target)

Characteristics of the perceived, such as background, proximity, similarity, size, sounds, motion and repetition or novelty, are also important in the perceptual process. A bright red sports car will tend to stand out from a group of grey sedans; whispering or shouting will stand out from ordinary conversation; very small or very large-sized group of people will tend to be perceived differently from and more readily than average-sized people; and moving objects will stand out from those not moving (Wood, Chapman, Fromholtz, Morrison, Wallace, Zeffane, Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn, 2004).

Figure 2: Multiple Influences on the Perceptual Process - why different people may see the

same situation differently

The Perceiver

Needs or Motives

Experiences

Values

Attitudes

Personality

The Perceived

Contrast

Intensity

Size

Motion

Repetition/ novelty

The Setting

Physical

Social

Organizational

The Perceptual Process

Attention Organisation Interpretation Retrieval

and

selection

Casual

Attribution

Distortions

Stereotype/ prototype

Halo

Selective perception

Projection

Source: Wood, Chapman, Fromholtz, Morrison, Wallace, Zeffane, Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn (2004)

2.1 Perceptual Expectancy

Past experiences, motives, context or suggestions may create a perceptual expectancy (or set) that prepares us to perceive in a certain way. Perceptual sets often lead us to see what we expect to see (Coon,