Psychology

Presentation: Nature Of Perception

Prof. Gul Zaman
Group Members:
Roll No: Name:
22-BS-01 Raiqa Ahsan
22-BS-02 Ayesha
22-BS-04 Mahnoor Naveed
22-BS-31 Sidra Hafeez
Govt. Molana Zafar Ali Khan Graduate College Wazirabad
 Psychology
Nature of perception

Introduction
What is perception?

PERCEPTION (from the Latin Perceptio) is the organization,

identification and
interpretation of sensory information. In order to represent
and understand the presented information or the environment.
Definition

“Perception is the process through which the information

from outside environment is selected, received, organized
and interpreted to make it meaningful to you.”

A few definitions of perception as given by different authors

are as explained below:
“Perception may be defined as a process by which
individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in
order to give meaning to their environment.”
According to Joseph Reitz,

“Perception includes all those processes by which an individual

receives information about his environment—seeing, hearing, feeling,
tasting and smelling. The study of these perpetual processes shows
that their functioning is affected by three classes of variables—the
objects or events being perceived, the environment in which
perception occurs and the individual doing the perceiving.”

In simple words we can say that perception is the act of seeing what
is there to be seen. But what is seen is influenced by the perceiver, the
object and its environment. The meaning of perception emphasizes
all these three points.
From the above explanation it becomes clear that
perception is something more than sensation. It correlates,
integrates and comprehends diverse sensations and
information from many organs of the body by means of
which a person identifies things and objects, the sensations
refer to.

Perception is determined by both physiological and

psychological characteristics of the human being whereas
sensation is conceived with only the physiological features.
Thus, perception is not just what one sees with the eyes it is a
much more complex process by which an individual
selectively absorbs or the stimuli in the environment,
cognitively organizes the perceived information in a specific
fashion and then interprets the information to make an
assessment about what is going on in one’s environment.
Difference between sensation and perception

Perception is an active process which organizes the

sensory information and experience in a meaningful
from whereas sensation is a passive mental process
related to the external stimuli and not to the past
learning and experience. Sensation do not change
but the perception may change according to the
past learning and thinking. Different perceive a
similar stimulus in a different ways according to their
past learning and experience.
 Nature/Characteristics of perception
The nature of perception is clear from its following characteristics:

(1). Subjective process:

Perception is a subjective process. Subjective means to interpret a

thing on the basis of personal interest and understanding in place of
facts. In other words, a thing is perceived differently by various persons.
This characteristic is present in perception.

(2). Activation Process:

Perception is a process which creates activeness in a person. There is a

sensation before perceptual process. During sensation, the person
remains inactive. She/he only feels and does not respond. On the
contrary, the person becomes active in perception.
(3). Mental Process:

Perception is a mental process. Under perceptual process, a person

selects, organizes and interprets the information available in the
environment. Every person can’t be attracted towards all stimuli
present in the environment. He only selects those stimuli which are
related to him. Then he recognizes them and interprets them.
So, the mind is necessary every time in perceptual process.

(4). Wider scope than sensation:

Perception is a mixture of sensation and cognitive processes whereas

sensation is a response to human senses, Sensation includes human
senses whereas both senses and understanding work in perception.
Thus, Perception has wider scope than sensation.
(5). Specific Stimuli:

Perception provides information to a person about different stimuli. For

example, a person first smells, tastes, touches, etc. Then interpretation is
given to this information under the perception process.

(6). Specific Interpretation:

Perception is a specific interpretation of a real situation. It is not the same

representation of the situation. In other words, it is not photocopy
representation rather it is an explanation done by a person according to his
understanding. No two person can be similar in the explanation.

(7). Various Components:

Perception is affected by various components. These components may be

internal like needs, values experiences, understanding, etc. as well as
external like intensity, repetition, motion, etc.
(8). Restricts Behavior:

The understanding of perception contributes a lot in the estimation and controlling

controlling the behavior of a person. People behave in the same manner as they
see.

(9). Multipurpose uses:

The concept of understanding increases the understanding of human behavior. As

a result, better consequences or outcomes come in the field of selection, training,
reward, etc.

Importance of Perception:

(i). Perception is very important in understanding the human behaviour, because

every person perceives the world and approaches the life problems differently-
Whatever we see or feel is not necessarily the same as it really is. It is because what
we hear is not what is really said, but what we perceive as being said. When we buy
something, it is not because it is the best, but because we take it to be the best.
Thus, it is because of perception, we can find out why one individual finds a job
satisfying while another one may not be satisfied with it.
(ii). If people behave on the basis of their perception, we can
predict their behavior in the changed circumstances by
understanding their present perception of the environment. One
person may be viewing the facts in one way which may be different
from the facts as seen by another viewer.(iii) With the help of
perception, the needs of various people can be determined,
because people’s perception is influenced by their needs. Like the
mirrors at an amusement park, they distort the world in relation to their
tensions.

(iii). With the help of perception, the needs of various people can
be determined, because people’s perception is influenced by their
needs. Like the mirrors at an amusement park, they distort the world in
relation to their tensions.
(iv). Perception is very important for the manager who wants
to avoid making errors when dealing with people and events in
the work setting. This problem is made more complicated by the
fact that different people perceive the same situation differently.
In order to deal with the subordinates effectively, the managers
must understand their perceptions properly.

Thus, for understanding the human behavior, it is very important

to understand their perception, that is, how they perceive the
different situations. People’s behavior is based on their
perceptions of what reality is, not on reality itself. The world as it is
perceived is the world that is important for understanding the
human behavior.