Contents

INTRODUCTION TO PERCEPTION:
................................................................................................................................... 3

PERCEPTION DEFINITION............................................................................................4

Process.................................................................................................................... 4

Impressions............................................................................................................. 4

Information.............................................................................................................. 5

Behavior..................................................................................................................5

Response..............................................................................................................5

Individual.............................................................................................................. 5

Group...................................................................................................................6

Environment......................................................................................................... 6

Person..................................................................................................................6

Stimuli..................................................................................................................6

The Meaning of Perception.........................................................................................6

The Presuppositions of Transformational Processing...............................................8

Truth is relative....................................................................................................8

Truth is simple......................................................................................................8

A belief will prove what it assumes......................................................................8

The map is not the territory.................................................................................9

The natural state is wholeness.............................................................................9

Personal Reality ......................................................................................................9

Semantic Reactions ..............................................................................................10

TYPES OF PERCEPTION.............................................................................................11

FIGURE GROUND PERCEPTION..............................................................................12

ORGANIZATION PERCEPTION.................................................................................12

DEPTH PERCEPTION...............................................................................................13

SIZE CONSTANCY..................................................................................................14
 INTRODUCTION TO PERCEPTION:

Perception is the process by which organisms interpret and organize sensation to produce a
meaningful experience of the world. Sensation usually refers to the immediate, relatively
unprocessed result of stimulation of sensory receptors in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, or skin.
Perception, on the other hand, better describes one's ultimate experience of the world and
typically involves further processing of sensory input. In practice, sensation and perception are
virtually impossible to separate, because they are part of one continuous process.

Thus, perception in humans describes the process whereby sensory stimulation is translated
into organized experience. That experience, or percept, is the joint product of the stimulation
and of the process itself. Relations found between various types of stimulation (e.g., light waves
and sound waves) and their associated percepts suggest inferences that can be made about the
properties of the perceptual process; theories of perceiving then can be developed on the basis of
these inferences. Because the perceptual process is not itself public or directly observable (except
to the perceiver himself, whose percepts are given directly in experience), the validity of
perceptual theories can be checked only indirectly.

Historically, systematic thought about perceiving was the province of philosophy.

Philosophical interest in perception stems largely from questions about the sources and validity
of what is called human knowledge (epistemology). Epistemologists ask whether a real, physical
world exists independently of human experience and, if so, how its properties can be learned and
how the truth or accuracy of that experience can be determined. They also ask whether there are
innate ideas or whether all experience originates through contact with the physical world,
mediated by the sense organs.

As a scientific enterprise, however, the investigation of perception has especially developed

as part of the larger discipline of psychology. For the most part, psychology bypasses the
questions about perceiving raised by philosophy in favor of problems that can be handled by its
special methods. The remnants of such philosophical questions, however, do remain; researchers
are still concerned, for example, with the relative contributions of innate and learned factors to
the perceptual process.

Such fundamental philosophical assertions as the existence of a physical world, however, are
taken for granted among most scientific students of perceiving. Typically, researchers in
perception simply accept the apparent physical world particularly as it is described in those
branches of physics concerned with electromagnetic energy, optics, and mechanics. The
problems they consider relate to the process whereby percepts are formed from the interaction of
physical energy (for example, light) with the perceiving organism. Of further interest is the
degree of correspondence between percepts and the physical objects to which they ordinarily
relate. How accurately, for example, does the visually perceived size of an object match its
physical size as measured (e.g., with a yardstick)?
 PERCEPTION DEFINITION

Process by which person translates sensory impressions into a coherent and unified view of the
world around them. Though necessarily based on incomplete and unverified (or unreliable)
information, perception is 'the reality' and guides human behavior in general.

1) Process
2) Impressions
3) Information
4) Behavior
Process
Definition
Sequence of interdependent and linked procedures which, at every stage, consume one or more
resources (employee time, energy, machines, money) to convert inputs (data, material, parts,
etc.) into outputs. These outputs then serve as inputs for the next stage until a known goal or end
result is reached.

Impressions
Definitions
1. Advertising: Number of audience exposed to a media schedule.

2. Internet marketing: Basis on which banner advertising is sold; as a rule of thumb ten page
views or 'hits' equal one impression.

3. Printing: (1) Number of times a page or publication passes through the printing process to
receive the complete image. In monochrome (single color) printing, only one impression is
necessary whereas in multi-color printing two or more impressions are needed. (2) Alternative
term for print run.
Information
Definition
In general, raw data that (1) has been verified to be accurate and timely, (2) is specific and
organized for a purpose, (3) is presented within a context that gives it meaning and relevance,
and which (4) leads to increase in understanding and decrease in uncertainty. The value of
information lies solely in its ability to affect a behavior, decision, or outcome. A piece of
information is considered valueless if, after receiving it, things remain unchanged. For the
technical meaning of information see information theory.

Behavior
Definition
Response of an individual or group to an action, environment, person, or stimulus.

1. Response
2. Individual
3. Group
4. Environment
5. Person
6. Stimulus
Response
Definitions
1. Reaction to an event, occurrence, or situation, aimed at its containment or control.

2. Any behavior that results from a stimulus.

3. Point by point answer by a defendant (respondent) to a plaintiff's allegations or complaint.

Individual
Definitions
1. Single person.

2. Autonomous, distinct, indivisible entity.

Group
Definitions
1. Collection of individuals who have regular contact and frequent interaction, mutual influence,
common feeling of camaraderie, and who work together to achieve a common set of goals.

2. Subdivision of a set.

Environment
Definitions
1. Circumstances, influences, stresses, and competitive, cultural, demographic, economic,
natural, political, regulatory, and technological factors (called environmental factors) that effect
the survival, operations, and growth of an organization.

2. Sum total of all surroundings of a living organism, including natural forces and other living
things, which provide conditions for development and growth as well as of danger and damage.

Person
Definition
Individual, agency, association, branch, corporation, estate, group, partnership, or other entity
or organization having legal rights and responsibilities separate from those of other entities
and/or of its owners or members. See also juridical person.

Stimuli
Definition
Events or occurrences in the environment of an organism that influence its behavior. Singular of
stimuli is 'stimulus.'

The Meaning of Perception

Perceptions vary from person to person. 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 for a certain person. One might change one's perspective or simply make
things mean something else.

This is a famous picture. What does it look like to you?

Some people see a young lady looking away. Others see an old lady looking down. Depending
on how you look at it, part of the picture might be the young woman's nose and eyelash, or it
might be a wart on the old woman's nose. What is the young woman's ear might be the old
woman's eye. What is the young woman's necklace might be the old woman's mouth. The picture
hasn't really changed. You just emphasize different parts of it and assign them different meaning.

Look at these two arrows. Which horizontal line is the longest?

They are exactly the same size. However the top one looks longer than the bottom one. It is on
optical illusion tricking us into assigning a different meaning to what we see.

We fill in a lot of blanks with our minds. If we have incomplete perceptions, which we
practically always do to a certain extent, our minds fill in the rest.
Do you see a vase or do you see two faces looking at each other?

The meaning of something will change when you look at it differently. You can look at anything
differently and it will have a different meaning.

There is no fixed meaning to anything. You can always change perspectives and change
meanings. Why not change them to what you prefer them to be?

The Presuppositions of Transformational Processing

Transformational Processing is based on certain major presuppositions. This is the foundation
that makes processing possible at all. There is no reason to regard these statements as ultimately
true. They are simply beliefs that we choose to adhere to. We are not going to attempt to prove
them. Their usefulness will be clearly demonstrated to you as you get results with processing.

Truth is relative
There is no absolute truth. The value of any datum is relative to the person using it, the context it
is being used in, and the desired outcome. The "better" truths are the ones that align things in a
more useful for the person using them.

Truth is simple
More basic, more wide-spanning or more useful truths are usually simpler. Complexity indicates
that one has moved away from basic truths. We will assume that in any complex situation there
will be simple truths to find if one digs a little deeper.

A belief will prove what it assumes

Any basic belief that a person holds will prove itself. If you believe people are good, you will
find good people. If you believe people are bad, you will find bad people. Therefore there is no
absolute truth value that can be assigned to a belief, because they can all be proven. The only real
measure of a belief is how useful it is to you.
The map is not the territory
To communicate and to think, we construct maps of reality. Simplified models illustrating how
we have perceived things to work. That can be very useful in discussing and teaching things. But
the map is never really the same as the territory that it attempts to describe.

The natural state is wholeness

People aren't really broken. They basically have all the abilities and knowledge they need. If it
appears differently it is because they perceive themselves as being fragmented into parts that
they aren't quite aware of.

Personal Reality
A person's reality consists of anything he can perceive and of meanings he has attached to what
he perceives. Some of this reality consists of physical objects, people, and situations that he
shares to some degree with others. However, each person will have somewhat different
perceptions of what is there, and they will attach very different meanings to what they perceive
to be there. In addition each person develops items of an even more subjective nature that exist in
his reality. That includes thoughts, feelings, memories, desires, dreams, etc. They all exist and
can be perceived by the person as part of his world. They might or might not be available to
other people.

We assume that the person inherently is creating his own world. Every aspect of his reality is
there because he is putting it there. He might not be consciously aware of how. But ultimately he
is always the one doing it, he is the one who perceives, and thinks, and feels, and intends.

We regard the inner core of the person as being distinct from anything that is found in his world.
Anything that is found in his world can be perceived, assigned different meanings, and changed.
The person might at various times be identifying herself with parts of his reality. But none of it is
the true person. Or, maybe rather ALL of it is, if we add everything together. The inner person is
a creative source that is inherently capable of being or not being anything whatsoever.

There is a region of the person's reality that he usually would consider being himself. Typically
he is not conscious aware of that and not aware of what exactly he is being. The moment he
starts perceiving something as an individual item he will separate from it and is no longer being
it. The part he is being he is not looking at.

The person's reality is thoroughly changeable. There might be parts of the reality that are more
fixed or more permanent than others, but ultimately everything can be changed. But beyond the
dynamics of existence there is a static core of the person that is forever unchangeable. It is
perfect and unlimited so it is in no need of change whatsoever.

Whatever might or might not be working well in a person's life is an aspect of his reality. There
is nothing basically wrong with his self. What might need adjustment is his reality. All we can
really do in processing is to help an individual be more aware of his own reality and to inspire
his to make that reality whatever he wants it to be.
A person might have an inadequate familiarity with his reality, he might be assigning meanings
to it that don't serve his well, he might have split himself or other parts of his reality up into
fragments, he might be carrying around unpleasant past or future events as part of his reality. No
matter what is not optimum for the person the answer is the same: get his to change his reality.

Semantic Reactions
Simply put, a Semantic Reaction is when one responds to things the way they "should" be, rather
than to the way they are.

If one isn't quite noticing or accepting what is really going on in the present, but one responds
based on one's thoughts or feelings about what ought to be, then one is apt to collide with what is
really going on.

The representation of what ought to be is very often stored unconsciously. The person is not
consciously aware of what he is expecting. he will simply act or react as if it is reality. And when
it isn't he will clash with the actual reality he is operating in to a greater or lesser degree.

Unconscious "ought" often come out of one's experiences in the past. Past events might have
burned an imprint into the sub-conscious mind of "the way things are". Particularly
overwhelming, traumatic incidents have a tendency to spill over into other times and situations.

One's hopes for the future might also create ideas of how things "should" be that are different
from how they are. One might have wanted to be in a different situation than what one is actually
in.

Fixed ideas in general are prefabricated conclusions about how things "are". If one perceives
through one's fixed ideas one is attempting to interact with something that isn't really there.

The expectation of what "should" be can exist at varying degrees of unconsciousness. If it is only
slightly unconscious the person might immediately notice his mistake and correct his idea of
what is going on. If it is more unconscious he is likely to put up more of a fight, insisting that his
idea of reality is more real than the reality.

Semantic reactions are cleared by exposing them. By finding out what they are, or where they
come from, by finding out what the present reality is, and by comparing the two.
 TYPES OF PERCEPTION
There are many different ways of perceiving the world. One of these ways is by perceptual
organization. Perceptual organizations are processes used to group basic sensory elements
together into perceivable objects. The two basic principles of perceptual organization involves
perceiving figures embedded in a perceptual background and organizing what you see, or what
you perceive, in the simplest form possible. Another type of perception is depth perception,
which is primarily utilized
by visual or auditory
senses. The organ used
for visual perception is
the eye. The eye is an
extremely complex
organ. It is composed of
multiple of structures
each having its own
specific function or
functions (refer to
diagram). The cornea is a clear protective membrane which allows for the passage of light but
blocks the entrance of dust. The lens is just behind the cornea and it focuses the light entering
into the eye. The light forms an image which falls on the retina. This image is upside down and
is processed by the brain. The amount of light entering the eye is controlled by the iris, the
colored structure of the eye. The pupil is a black dot in the center of the eye through which light
passes. The retina contains over 100 million nerve cells known as rods and cones. Cones are
responsible for colored vision and rods are used for black and white vision.
FIGURE GROUND PERCEPTION
Figure ground perception is the tendency to discriminate between target and background
stimuli. The stimulus we perceive as being the target is referred to
as the figure. The other stimuli that we do not perceive as the
target make up the background, or ground.
The vase seen at right can be
perceived in two different ways.
If the black is perceived as the
background, you will see a vase.
However, if you perceive the vase
as the background, you will see
two faces.

An interesting phenomenon occurs when looking at a square

centered over top of several, closely spaced concentric circles.
In the figure at left, all of the sides of the square are perfectly
straight. Go ahead and check with a straight edge. However,
the sides of the square will appear to bend inward toward the
center of the circles. This is known as background mediated illusion. The background is
responsible for the distortion seen in the figure.

ORGANIZATION PERCEPTION
The Law of Pagans, also known as the Law of Simplicity, states that we tend to perceive the
world in the simplest form possible. There are two major parts
to this law: closure and grouping. Closure is the tendency to fill
in missing portions from a perceptual array, or to fill in the
gaps. Grouping occurs when similar or proximal stimuli are
perceived as belonging together in a group.
A common example used to illustrate closure is the
perception of a complete triangle from three lines. This can be
observed at right. If you look closely you can actually see two
triangles in the figure. Grouping can be observed by looking at
the collection of black dots below. Your brain groups the dots
together and allows you to see the figure of a dog.
DEPTH PERCEPTION
Humans perceive depth in a seemingly two dimensional world by interpreting binocular visual
cues from the environment. They interpret those stimuli in the brain. Two depth cues that
require both eyes are binocular disparity and convergence. Your eyes are separated by a space.
This allows them to receive two slightly different images. As distance from your eyes increases
the difference between the two images decreases. Binocular disparity is the depth cue that is
based on the difference between these two images. Your brain interprets images that are very
similar in both eyes as far away, and images that are different in both eyes as closer.
Another way for you brain to interpret the distance to objects is known as convergence. This
is when your brain interprets the tension in the muscles that control eye movement. Binocular
disparity is used with images that are farther away, perhaps up to 1000 feet. Convergence is
used when the object is eighty feet away or closer.

An artistic use of the human processing of depth perception is utilized in stereograms. Have
you ever looked at a stereoscopic image, or "magic eye"? They are two dimensional images, but
they can be perceived as three dimensional images in brain. The feeling of "depth" that you get
by looking at a statue instead of looking at a photo of the same statue is due to the fact that the
human body has two eyes. By having two pictures of the same object, taken by two different
positions, which is the case of the human eyes, you can get a "three dimensional image." In the
same way, the eyes forward to the brain two slightly different pictures. It is the brain that must
"compute" a 3-D representation of the scene. The brain can make mistakes in this process of
designation of pairs! It is these mistakes which make possible the 3-D feeling that we get from
viewing a stereogram.

SIZE CONSTANCY
Imagine yourself outside looking up at an airplane high in the sky. You lift up your hand and see
that the plane is smaller than your finger, yet you still know that the plane is large enough to hold
hundreds of people. Due to the information in your memory stores, you are still able to perceive
the actual size of the airplane despite a change in the size of the retinal image. This concept is
known as size constancy.

Despite the fact that you know images

that are far away are actually the same size
as if they were closer, your brain can be
fooled. An example of this is the moon
illusion, in which the moon on the horizon
appears larger than one higher in the sky.
The moon doesn't actually changes size,
but its relationship to the horizon can make
it seem larger lower in the sky. This
phenomenon can also be explained using
the figure below. The center circles are
actually both the same size, yet they appear
too different because of their relationship to
the surrounding circles. Our brain perceives the circle surrounded by larger circles as smaller,
because it is smaller in relation to the surrounding circles. The opposite is true for the circle
surrounded by smaller circles.