PERCEPTION

It is the selection, organization, and interpretation of sensory inputs absorbed by the sensory receptors.
It involves the absorption of sensory inputs in the form of external energies such as; light, visual, sound,
smell, temperature, etc. and sent to the brain where these different energies are interpreted or
organized into something meaningful or recognizable. In other words, it is the process by which a
person selects organizes and interprets information inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world
around him.

PERCEPUAL PROCESS: Feature analysis is very vital to perceptual process. It is the process of detecting
and identifying the specific features and elements in the visual inputs and organizing them into, more
complex and the whole form.

Sensation: Process of detecting stimuli.

Selection: Process of choosing the required stimuli.

Organization: Process of placing selected stimuli into a framework for storage.

Translation: Process where stimuli are interpreted and given meaning.

BOTTOM-UP PROCESSING: It is the process of detecting different identifying or specific elements

individually first in the visual inputs and then assembling them into a whole single complex form and at
last recognizing them for what they are.

TOP-DOWN PROCESSING: It involves formulating a perceptual hypothesis about the visual inputs first,
and then selecting or identifying the features according to the perceptual hypothesis and a last
recognizing the visual inputs.

Factors influencing perception: Person is a process by which a person selects, interprets and organizes
information inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world around him. Perception depends upon
external stimuli and its relation to the surrounding environment and conditions. The key here is that,
perception can vary widely among people exposed to the same 'reality' or 'stimuli'. For example: A fast
talking salesperson may be perceived as aggressive by some people. A number of factors operate in
these cases to shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors include; the perceiver, the object
or the target being perceived, and the context or the situation in which perception is made. It is a
subjective process influenced by various factors that shape how individuals interpret and make sense of
the world around them:

1. Sensory Abilities: Individual differences in sensory abilities can impact perception. For example,
someone with acute vision may notice details that others might miss. Similarly, variations in hearing
sensitivity or olfactory acuity can influence how individuals perceive their environment.
2. Past Experiences: Past experiences significantly influence perception. Our previous encounters,
cultural background, upbringing, and education shape our expectations, values, and attitudes, leading us
to interpret situations based on our unique life history.

3. Cognitive Processes: Cognitive processes, such as attention, memory, and categorization, play a vital
role in perception. Selective attention determines which stimuli receive focus, while memory aids in
interpreting new information based on stored knowledge. Categorization helps individuals organize and
classify sensory input, simplifying the complexity of the environment.

4. Motivation and Interests: Motivation and interests direct attention to specific stimuli. Individuals tend
to notice and interpret information that aligns with their needs, desires, or goals, while ignoring
irrelevant information.

5. Emotional State: Emotional states influence perception by altering the significance and interpretation
of sensory information. Emotions can enhance or diminish the impact of a stimulus and affect how it is
perceived.

6. Social and Cultural Factors: Cultural norms, values, and social expectations influence perception.
Different cultures may interpret the same stimulus differently due to varying beliefs and traditions.

7. Context and Environment: The context and environment in which a stimulus is presented can affect
perception. The same stimulus may be perceived differently depending on the surrounding
circumstances.

8. Physiological Factors: Physiological factors, such as age, health, and hormonal changes, can influence
perception. For instance, the perception of pain may vary with age or health conditions.

9. Perceptual Set: Perceptual set refers to the readiness to perceive stimuli in a particular manner based
on expectations and preconceived notions. Our past experiences and beliefs create perceptual sets that
guide our interpretations.

10. Media and Technology: The way information is presented through media channels, such as
television, social media, or advertisements, can influence how individuals perceive certain issues or
products.

Factors in the perceiver: Attitudes, moods, motives, self-concept, interests, cognitive structures.

Factors in the target: Novelty, motion, sound intensity, size, background, proximity, similarity.

Factors in the situation: Time, work- setting, social-setting.

Perceptual Organization (Gestalt principles)

Gestalt psychology focuses on how our minds organize and interpret visual data. It emphasizes that the
whole of anything is greater than its parts. Based upon this belief, Wertheimer along with Gestalt
psychologists Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka, developed a set of rules to explain how we group smaller
objects to form larger ones (perceptual organization). They called these rules the Gestalt laws of
perceptual organization. The rules or principles of perceptual organization are proximity, similarity,
continuity, closure, and connectedness. Proximity is the tendency to perceive objects that are close to
each other as a group. Similarity is the way we automatically group objects together by a common
feature, such as color or shape. Continuity is the tendency to follow lines when we look at an object.
Closure is the perception of completeness even when the object is not complete. Connectedness is the
tendency to group objects together that are connected by lines, color, or shape.

It's important to note that while Gestalt psychologists call these phenomena "laws," a more accurate
term would be "principles." Gestalt principles are much like heuristics, which are mental shortcuts for
solving problems.

The Gestalt principles:

1. Law of Similarity: The law of similarity states that similar things tend to appear grouped together.
Grouping can occur in both auditory and visual stimuli.

2. Law of Prägnanz: The law of prägnanz is sometimes called the law of simplicity. This law holds that
when you're presented with a set of ambiguous or complex objects, your brain will make them appear as
simple as possible.

3. Law of Proximity: According to the law of proximity, things that are close together seem more related
than things that are spaced farther apart. Put another way, when objects are close to each other, we also
tend to group them together.
4. Law of Continuity: The law of continuity holds that points that are connected by straight or curving
lines are seen in a way that follows the smoothest path. In other words, elements in a line or curve seem
more related to one another than those positioned randomly.

5. Law of Closure: According to the law of closure, we perceive elements as belonging to the same group
if they seem to complete some entity. Our brains often ignore contradictory information and fill in gaps
in information.

6. Law of figure and ground: The figure-ground principle states that people instinctively perceive objects
as either being in the foreground or the background. They either stand out prominently in the front (the
figure) or recede into the back (the ground)

Law of Common Region: The Gestalt law of common region says that when elements are closed- off
separately. However, if they are located in the same region, distance wise. Then we perceive them as
belonging to the same group.

Law of context: It is the setting in which the objects or stimulus appears. Eg: Rain, during paddy farming
season may be good for farmers but other times it may not be as good.

Law of contour/Law of contrast

Perceptual errors & biases Perceptual Errors are mistakes or biases in how we perceive and interpret

information from our environment. These errors can occur due to various factors such as our past
experiences, cultural background, or cognitive biases. So, perceptual errors are like misinterpretations or
misunderstandings that happen when we see, hear, or experience something, leading us to form
inaccurate conclusions or judgments about the world around us. For example, making assumptions
about individuals based on their belonging to a different group or society, without actually
understanding the reality of those people, is a common error we make in our daily lives. This tendency
impacts our relationships, decisions, and our overall understanding of the world.

Some perceptual errors & biases:

Bias perception: is a cognitive bias that occurs when we subconsciously draw conclusions based on what
we expect to see or experience. Once we make an assumption, we tend to look for evidence that
reinforces it, rather than being open-minded and objective about a given situation.

Self serving bias: It is the tendency to attribute our successes to internal, personal factors, and our
failures to external, situational factors. In other words, we like to take credit for our triumphs, but we are
more likely to blame others or circumstances for our shortcomings.

Role of culture: Culture impacts how people think and the way that people understand the stimuli
around them. As such, culture has a deep impact on the way that people see and experience the world,
which is their perception of the world. The culture into which one was born shapes eating habits,
physical habits, emotional expression, style, and all other forms of life experiences.

Impression: The process of cultivating and projecting an impression can influence our self-concept and
self-esteem. When we form positive impressions, we are more likely to get positive feedback and have
rewarding social experiences, both of which bolster how we see ourselves

Status effect: perception is also influenced by status. The status effect is a perceptional error where
individuals attribute certain qualities or traits to others based on their perceived social or professional
status.

Projection bias: It is a self-forecasting error, where people overestimate how much their future selves
will share the same beliefs, values and behaviors as their current selves, causing them to make short-
sighted decisions.

Jumping to conclusion: The jumping to conclusions (JTC) reasoning bias is among the most widely
studied cognitive biases in psychosis and describes individuals' tendency to make hasty decisions based
on insufficient information.

Stereotype effect: It is a fixed general image or set of characteristics that a lot of people believe
represent a particular type of person or thing.

Selection effect: It is the tendency to judge anything according to one's personal interest or suitability.

Halo effect: It is the tendency to take only one positive aspect of anyone or anything and try to relate
with other aspects as well.

Central effect: It is the tendency to take the average result of anything into consideration.

Recency effect: It is the tendency to take in or favour the recent results or performances.

Self-fulfilling prophecy: belief in one’s ability to predict.

Perceptual defense: Tendency to stick to one’s perception. Resistance to change.

Fundamental attribution error: Tendency to underestimate external factor and overestimate internal
factors.
The similar-to-me effect: Favouring those who are like oneself.

Constancies and illusions

Constancies: It is the phenomenon expected to have taken place when one perceives the object as the
same, despite the sensory changes. In the absence of perceptual constancy there will be chaos and a lot
of confusion around us, because the objects will appear to be different, whenever we look at them.
Illusion: Whatever we perceive from the environmental factors around us need not always be true.
In fact there may be errors in perception. The image falls directly onto to the retina which is later
processed and interpreted by the brain. The interpretations may not necessarily be always correct and
this misinterpretation of information which is perceived by our sensory receptors is called as illusion. For
an example, in darkness we may perceive a rope to be a snake.

Person perception

Person perception theory in social psychology is the study of how we cognitively categorize people and
their behaviors. Person perception can be difficult to explain; it is complicated and incredibly subjective.
Our impressions of other people can be influenced by our context or surroundings, the characteristics of
the other person, and our own attributes and experiences. Perceptions of people are often based on
social norms or standards. They may also be based on stereotypes or generalizations. Even with all
these factors in play, it only takes a moment for our mind to form a perception or interpretation of
another person, subjectively.

Attribution theory: Attribution theory is concerned with how ordinary people explain the causes of
behavior and events. For example, is someone angry because they are bad-tempered or because
something bad happened? Fiske and Taylor (1991, p. 23) Attribution theory deals with how the social
perceiver uses information to arrive at causal explanations for events. It examines what information is
gathered and how it is combined to form a causal judgment”.

Heider (1958) believed that people are naive psychologists trying to make sense of the social world.
People tend to see cause-and-effect relationships, even where there is none. He didn’t so much develop
a theory himself to emphasize certain themes that others took up. There were two main ideas that he
put forward that became influential: dispositional (internal cause) vs. situational (external cause)
attributions.

Kelley’s Covariation Model: Kelley’s (1967) covariation model is the best-known attribution theory. He
developed a logical model for judging whether a particular action should be attributed to some
individual characteristic (dispositional) of the person or the environment (situational). The term
covariation simply means that a person has information from multiple observations at different times
and situations and can perceive the covariation of an observed effect and its causes. More specifically,
they take into account three kinds of evidence:
Consensus: the extent to which other people behave in the same way in a similar situation. E.g., Alison
smokes a cigarette when she goes out for a meal with her friend. If her friend smokes, her behavior is
high in consensus. If only Alison smokes, it is low.

Distinctiveness: the extent to which the person behaves in the same way in similar situations. If Alison
only smokes when she is out with friends, her behavior is high in distinctiveness. If she smokes at any
time or place, her distinctiveness is low.

Consistency: the extent to which the person behaves like this every time the situation occurs. If Alison
only smokes when she is out with friends, consistency is high. If she only smokes on one special
occasion, consistency is low. Let us take an example:

Our subject is called Tom. His behavior is laughter. Tom is laughing at a comedian.

Consensus: If everybody in the audience is laughing, the consensus is high. If only Tom is laughing, the
consensus is low.

Distinctiveness: If Tom only laughs at this comedian, the distinctiveness is high. If Tom laughs at
everything, then distinctiveness is low.

Consistency: If Tom always laughs at this comedian, the consistency is high. If Tom rarely laughs at this
comedian, then consistency is low.

Now, if everybody laughs at this comedian if they don’t laugh at the other comedian who follows, and if
this comedian always raises a laugh, then we would make an external attribution, i.e., we assume that
Tom is laughing because the comedian is very funny.

On the other hand, if Tom is the only person who laughs at this comedian, if Tom laughs at all
comedians, and if Tom always laughs at the comedian, then we would make an internal attribution, i.e.,
we assume that Tom is laughing because he is the kind of person who laughs a lot.

So what we’ve got here is people attributing causality based on correlation. That is to say, we see that
two things go together, and we, therefore, assume that one causes the other if we don’t know Tom
that well, we wouldn’t necessarily have the information to know if his behavior is consistent over time.
So what do we do then? According to Kelley, we fall back on past experience and look for either:

Multiple necessary causes: For example, we see an athlete win a marathon, and we reason that she
must be very fit, highly motivated, have trained hard, etc., and that she must have all of these to win.

Multiple sufficient causes: For example, we see an athlete fail a drug test, and we reason that she may
be trying to cheat, or have taken a banned substance by accident, or have been tricked into taking it by
her coach. Any one reason would be sufficient.

Impression formation and biases

Impression formation refers to the continuous process in which individuals develop and update their
perceptions of others based on new information and additional motivation. It involves the transition
from category-based impressions to attribute-based impressions, which are more accurate and derived
from specific characteristics of the person being evaluated. According to perceptual accentuation,
impression formation occurs when individuals overestimate the aspects of their surroundings based on
their current beliefs or feelings. In other words, if a perceiver feels or thinks in a certain way, all the
surrounding traits are magnified to align with that innate feeling. In other words, the perceiver’s brain
will make him/her see only those certain traits he/she is looking for and blurring out the other traits.
Similarly, the first thing that perceivers see/observe i.e. primacy and the last thing that thy see/observe
i.e. recency are 2 parts of their impression that are very likely to be remembered by them, known as
primacy-receny effect.

However, in distributed work settings, the lack of readily available information makes it challenging for
individuals to correct inaccurate impressions and repair them. This is because access to new information
is limited, hindering the ability to build on prior knowledge about people/co-workers etc. and leading to
the persistence of negative attributions.

Perceptual errors and biases: A perceptual error is the inability to judge humans, things or situations
fairly and accurately. Examples could include such things as bias, prejudice, stereotyping, which have
always caused human beings to err in different aspects of their lives.

Social behavior & Social influence:

Social behavior: refers to any kind of interaction between two or more individuals within the same
species. This broad definition includes a range of behaviors, from cooperation and conflict to
communication and competition, all of which occur in a social context. These behaviors can be as diverse
as a conversation between friends, the rivalry between competitors, or the collaboration among team
members working on a project. Each instance of social behavior provides insights into how individuals
influence and are influenced by their social environment.

Persuasion: Persuasion is a process in which one person or entity tries to influence another person or
group of people to change their beliefs or behaviors. It is distinct from coercion, in that the people
receiving the message have a choice about whether to act on it. ("Coercive persuasion" refers to
indoctrination or brainwashing, such as may occur in ‘cults’.) Persuasion can be a powerful force that
affects the decisions and actions that people take. Persuasive messages are symbolic (using words,
images, and sounds) and may be transmitted verbally or nonverbally, via media or face-to-face
communication.

Attitude: Attitude refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors toward a particular object, person,
thing, or event. Attitude can also be described as the way we evaluate something or someone. For
example, we tend to respond positively or negatively about certain subjects. We can summarize the
main components of attitude which are a collection of our thoughts, feelings, and actions in a given
scenario. They are formed as a result of our life experiences, upbringing, education, and social
influences.
Prejudice: Prejudice is an assumption or an opinion about someone simply based on that person's
membership in a particular group. For example, people can be prejudiced against someone else of a
different ethnicity, gender, or religion. If someone is acting on their prejudices, they are pre-judging
(hence the term "prejudice") someone before even getting to know them on a deeper level. This is an
irrational attitude and mind-set which does no good for anyone involved.

Social influence (Pro-social behavior): is the process by which an individual’s attitudes, beliefs or
behavior are modified by the presence or action of others. Four areas of social influence are conformity,
compliance and obedience, and minority influence.

1. Conformity: It is a type of social influence defined as a change in belief or behavior in response to real
or imagined social pressure. It is also known as majority influence:

Internalisation: Publicly changing behavior to fit in with the group while also agreeing with them
privately. An internal (private) and external (public) change of behavior. This is the deepest level of
conformity were the beliefs of the group become part of the individual’s own belief system.

Identification: Identification occurs when someone conforms to the demands of a given social role in
society. For example, a policeman, teacher or politician. This type of conformity extends over several
aspects of external behavior. However, there still will be no changed to internal personal opinion.

2. Compliance: This refers to instances where a person may agree in public with a group of people, but
the person privately disagrees with the group’s viewpoint or behavior. The individual changes their
views, but it is a temporary change.

3. Obedience: It is a type of social influence where a person follows an order from another person who
is usually an authority figure.

Milgram’s Shock Study experiment on obedience.

Stanley Milgram was a famous social psychologist who studied the way people obey authority figures. In
his famous experiment, participants were told that they were delivering electrical shocks to someone
else, and most of them continued to go along with it, even when the other person was screaming in
pain.

Milgram started his experiments in 1961, shortly after the trial of the World War II criminal Adolf
Eichmann had begun. Eichmann’s defense that he was merely following instructions when he ordered
the deaths of millions of Jews roused Milgram’s interest.

In his 1974 book "Obedience to Authority," Milgram posed the question, "Could it be that Eichmann and
his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?"

Procedure in the Milgram Experiment

The participants in the most famous variation of the Milgram experiment were 40 men recruited using
newspaper ads. In exchange for their participation, each person was paid $4.50. Milgram developed an
intimidating shock generator, with shock levels starting at 15 volts and increasing in 15-volt increments
all the way up to 450 volts. The many switches were labelled with terms including "slight shock,"
"moderate shock," and "danger: severe shock." The final three switches were labelled simply with an
ominous "XXX."

Each participant took the role of a "teacher" who would then deliver a shock to the "student" in a
neighbouring room whenever an incorrect answer was given. While participants believed that they were
delivering real shocks to the student, the “student” was a confederate in the experiment who was only
pretending to be shocked. As the experiment progressed, the participant would hear the learner plead
to be released or even complain about a heart condition. Once they reached the 300-volt level, the
learner would bang on the wall and demand to be released.

Beyond this point, the learner became completely silent and refused to answer any more questions. The
experimenter then instructed the participant to treat this silence as an incorrect response and deliver a
further shock. Most participants asked the experimenter whether they should continue. The
experimenter then responded with a series of commands to prod the participant along:

"Please continue."/"The experiment requires that you continue."/"It is absolutely essential that you
continue."/"You have no other choice; you must go on."/

Results of the Milgram Experiment

In the Milgram experiment, obedience was measured by the level of shock that the participant was
willing to deliver. While many of the subjects became extremely agitated, distraught, and angry at the
experimenter, they nevertheless continued to follow orders all the way to the end.

Milgram's results showed that 65% of the participants in the study delivered the maximum shocks. Of
the 40 participants in the study, 26 delivered the maximum shocks, while 14 stopped before reaching the
highest levels.

Factors That Influence Obedience

Why did so many of the participants in this experiment perform a seemingly brutal act when instructed
by an authority figure? According to Milgram, there are some situational factors that can explain such
high levels of obedience:

The physical presence of an authority figure dramatically increased compliance.

The fact that Yale (a trusted and authoritative academic institution) sponsored the study led many
participants to believe that the experiment must be safe.

The selection of teacher and learner status seemed random.

Participants assumed that the experimenter was a competent expert.

The shocks were said to be painful, not dangerous.

Later experiments conducted by Milgram indicated that the presence of rebellious peers dramatically
reduced obedience levels. When other people refused to go along with the experimenter's orders, 36
out of 40 participants refused to deliver the maximum shocks.

More recent work by researchers suggests that while people do tend to obey authority figures, the
process is not necessarily as cut-and-dried as Milgram depicted it.

In a 2012 essay published in PLoS Biology, researchers suggested that the degree to which people are
willing to obey the questionable orders of an authority figure depends largely on two key factors:

How much the individual agrees with the orders

How much they identify with the person giving the orders

While it is clear that people are often far more susceptible to influence, persuasion, and obedience than
they would often like to be, they are far from mindless machines just taking orders. Another study that
analysed Milgram's results concluded that certain factors influenced the likelihood that people would
progress up to the 450-volt shock, like:

The experimenter's directiveness/Legitimacy and consistency/Group pressure to disobey/Indirectness of

proximity/Intimacy of the relation between the teacher and learner/Distance between the teacher and
learner