Question:2: Explain the process of Perception. What are the factor those influence perception.

Answer:-

Perception: Perception is a cognitive process that is used to understand and interpret the
information that we get from our senses, and certain factors affect perception, such as emotion,
motivation, culture, and expectations.

Perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical or
chemical stimulation of the sense organs. It is not a passive receipt of these signals but is
shaped by learning, memory, expectation, and attention.

The study of these perceptual processes shows that their functioning is affected by three
variables, the objects or events being perceived, the environment in which perception occurs,
and the individual doing the perceiving.

Perception depends on complex nervous system functions but subjectively

seems mostly effortless because this processing happens outside of
conscious awareness.

According to Joseph Reitz, “Perception includes all those processes by which an

individual receives information about his environment—seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting
and smelling.”

According to B. V. H. Gilmer, “Perception is the process of becoming aware of situations,

of adding meaningful associations to sensations.”

Uday Pareek said perception can be defined as “the process of receiving, selecting,
organizing, interpreting, checking, and reacting to sensory stimuli or data.”

According to S. P. Robbins, perception can be defined as “the process by which

individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions to give meaning to their
environments.”

Perception includes the five senses; touch, sight, taste, smell, and sound. It
also includes what is known as perception, a set of senses involving the
ability to detect changes in body positions and movements.

It also involves the cognitive processes required to process information, such as

recognizing a friend’s face or detecting a familiar perfume.
The study of these perpetual processes shows that their functioning is affected by three
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 the environment. The
meaning of perception emphasizes all these three points.

Perception is a subjective, active, and creative process through which we

assign meaning to sensory information to understand ourselves and others.
It can be defined as our recognition and interpretation of sensory
information. It also includes how we respond to the information.

It is the process by which an organism detects and interprets information from the
external world by means of the sensory receptors. It is our sensory experience of the
world around us and involves both the recognition of environmental stimuli and actions
in response to these stimuli.

Through the perceptual process, we gain information about the properties and elements
of the environment that are critical to our survival.

Perception not only creates our experience of the world around us; it allows us to act
within our environment.

1. Perception is very important in understanding human behavior because every

person perceives the world and approaches life problems differently. Whatever
we see or feel is not necessarily the same as it really is. When we buy something,
it is not because it is the best, but because we take it to be the best.
2. If people behave based on their perception, we can predict their behavior in the
changed circumstances by understanding their present perception of the
environment. One person may view the facts in one way, which may be different
from the facts seen by another viewer.
3. With the help of perception, the needs of various people can be
determined because their needs influence people’s perceptions.
4. 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 subordinates effectively, managers must
understand their perceptions properly.
5. Perception can be important because it offers more than objective output; it
ingests an observation and manufactures an altered reality enriched with
previous experiences.
 6. Perception builds character (not necessarily good or bad character) that defines
different roles individuals fall into the clown, the hypocrite, the self-righteous,
the victim, etc.
7. It is vitally important if we want to get along with others to try to see things from
their perspective or walk in their shoes for a while. If we walk in their shoes, we
will gain a new perspective about things and, in that, understand the other and
also can love and help the other more appropriately.

Thus, for understanding human behavior, it is very important to understand their perception,
that is, how they perceive different situations.

People’s behavior is based on their perceptions of reality, not reality itself. The world, as it is
perceived, is the world that is important for understanding human behavior.

Perception is how an individual selects, organizes, and interprets information to create a

meaningful picture.

Perception depends not only on the physical stimuli but also on the
stimuli’s relation to the surrounding field and on conditions within the
individual. Perception is a process by which individuals organize and
interpret their sensory perceptions to give meaning to their environment.

However, what one perceives can be substantially different from objective reality. It is
the process through which the information from the outside environment is selected,
received, organized, and interpreted to make it meaningful.

This input of meaningful information results in decisions and actions. Several factors operate to
shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors can reside in the perceiver in the object
or target being perceived or in the context of the situation in which the perception is made.

When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that
interpretation is heavily influenced by the personal characteristics of the individual perceiver.

Some factors influence the target, such as novelty, motion, sounds, size, background,
proximity, similarity, etc.

Characteristics of the target being observed can affect what is perceived. Because targets
are not looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to its background also
influences perception, as does our tendency to group close things and similar things
together.

There are also some situational factors, like the time of perceiving others, work settings,
social settings, etc., that influence the perception process.
Besides these, there are some other factors, like perceptual learning, which is based on
past experiences or any special training that we get. Every one of us learns to emphasize
some sensory inputs and ignore others.

Another factor is the mental set, which refers to preparedness or readiness to receive
some sensory input.

Such expectancy keeps the individual prepared with good attention and concentration.
The level of knowledge we have may also change the way we perceive their behaviors.

For example, if a person knows that her friend is stressed out over family problems, she
might overlook her snappy comments. Learning has a considerable influence on
perception.

This creates expectancy in people. The nature of the things that must be perceived is
also an influential factor. By nature, we mean whether the object is visual or auditory
and whether it involves pictures, people, or animals.

When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what they see, that
interpretation is heavily influenced by the personal characteristics of the individual
perceiver.

Three stages of the perception process are;

1. Selection.
2. Organization.
3. Interpretation.

Personal characteristics that affect perception include a person’s attitudes, personality

motives interest, past experiences, and expectations.

Perception is determined by both the 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

assimilates the stimuli in the environment, cognitively organizes the perceived
information in a specific fashion, and then interprets the information to make an
assessment of what is going on in one’s environment.
Now let's discuss the factors that affect the perception quickly

How can we explain the fact that an individual may look at the same thing yet perceive it differently? There are
several factors that shape and sometimes distort perception. The factors can reside in the perceiver, in the
object or target being perceived, or in the situation that is prevailing at the time the perception is being made.

Factors in the perceiver

When we look at a target and try to interpret what we see, our interpretation is widely dependent on our
characteristics. Let's look at each of them −
 Attitudes − Our attitudes towards anything or anyone have a great impact on our perception. And our
attitudes are developed around our living background. Our childhood, our upbringing, and the nature of
the people around us form and nurture our attitudes. So our attitude towards a particular target is one of
the major factors that influence perception.
 Motives − The motive behind anything helps to shape and sometimes distort our perception. Suppose
we go for an interview and the motive behind the interview is to get an urgent job, we will perceive
everything to be decent and good, and if we already have many options and our motive is to choose
anyone among them, then we will start encountering good aspects as well as bad aspects.
 Interest − We perceive the target as favorable and good if we have an interest in it. For example, if we
choose a particular college because it offers scholarships, we will perceive it to be better than other
colleges.
 Experience − Our experience and expertise also shape our perceptions. A particular child can view a
cartoon as the best thing to enjoy, but a youngster may or may not have any interest in it; he or she may
like rock music instead of that, and an old person may not have any interest in any of them. So years of
experience shape and modulate our perception towards anything.
 Expectations − Our expectations of anyone or anything affect our perception. For example, the
expectation of our parents with our exam result makes them perceives differently with a particular
situation. The same goes for our expectations of our parents to understand our goals in life and make
them perceive us differently in a particular situation.

There are a set of factors in the target that affect our perception. Let's look at each of
them
 Novelty − The quality of being innovative and different is a pivotal point in any target that affects its
perception by someone. Suppose in a set of children a child is very outspoken; the teacher will perceive
him to be the best among the group.
 Motion − The motion of a particular target helps an individual perceives it differently.
 Sounds − The sound of a particular place, thing, or person affects the perception of them by different
people a lot. A loud person is perceived as a more confident fellow than a slow-spoken person, who is
perceived to be underconfident.
 Size − The size of a particular target also has a lot to do with how different people perceive it.
 Background − Suppose we see an ornament in a lavish gold shop. We will perceive it to be luxurious
and lucrative, but if we see the same ornament on the road, our perception will change. So background
matters a lot when making perceptions about anything or anyone.
 Proximity − The closeness or similarity of a particular target with the perceived object has a lot of
influence on the perception. For example, if we are Indian, we will surely emphasize Indian music more
than a foreigner.
 Similarity − The similarity of a particular person or thing with the target affects the perception on a wide
scale.

Sometimes the situation of a particular target affects its perception

 Time − the time it takes for a particular situation to happen affects its perception. If it's a sunny day, then
we perceive a child's drink to be the most lovable thing to have, but if it's a chilly winter day, we perceive
coffee to be the most lovable thing to have.
  Work setting − The setting of work at different organizations affects their perception by their employees.
Suppose there is an office with hectic work schedules and tedious, tiring work days. Employees of this
organization may be reluctant to work there, but if there is a similar organization with fun activities and
lots of incentives, employees of this organization may love where they work.
 Social setting − The people around us affect the perception of us by different people. For example,
many people perceive Bihari to be low, but at the same time, a Bihari can be the most wonderful person
on earth.
Conclusion
There are different factors that affect an individual's perception. The favor can be in the target to be perceived,
the perceiver, or the situation itself.