Introducing the Perception Process

Perception is the set of unconscious processes we undergo to make sense of the stimuli and sensations we encou
nter.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

Outline the stages of the perception process

KEY POINTS

Perception refers to the set of processes we use to make sense of the different stimuli we're presented with. Our
perceptions are based on how we interpret different sensations.
The perceptual process begins with receiving stimuli from the environment and ends with our interpretation of t
hose stimuli. This process is typically unconscious and happens hundreds of thousands of times a day.
When we attend to or select one specific thing in our environment, it becomes the attended stimulus.
Organization of stimuli happens by way of neural processes; this starts with our sensory receptors (touch, taste, s
mell, sight, and hearing), and is transmitted to our brains, where we organize the information we receive.
After we receive and organize stimuli, we can interpret those stimuli, which simply means that we take the infor
mation and turn it into something that we can categorize.
TERMS

percept
A mental representation of a stimulus

Perception Process
A sequence of steps that involves, sequentially: selection of stimuli in the environment, organization of that info
rmation, and interpretation of those stimuli.

Perception
The organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information

FULL TEXT

Introduction to Perception
Perception refers to the set of processes we use to make sense of all the stimuli you encounter every second, fro
m the glow of the computer screen in front of you to the smell of the room to the itch on your ankle. Our percept
ions are based on how we interpret all these different sensations, which are sensory impressions we get from the
stimuli in the world around us. Perception enables us to navigate the world and to make decisions about everythi
ng, from which T-shirt to wear or how fast to run away from a bear.

Close your eyes. What do you remember about the room you are in? The color of the walls, the angle of the sha
dows? Whether or not we know it, we selectively attend to different things in our environment. Our brains simpl
y don't have the capacity to attend to every single detail in the world around us. Optical illusions highlight this te
ndency. Have you ever looked at an optical illusion and seen one thing, while a friend sees something completel
y different? Our brains engage in a three-step process when presented with stimuli: selection, organization, and i
nterpretation.

For example, think of Rubin's Vase, a well-known optical illusion depicted below. First we select the item to att
end to and block out most of everything else. It's our brain's way of focusing on the task at hand to give it our att
ention. In this case, we have chosen to attend to the image. Then, we organize the elements in our brain. Some i
ndividuals organize the dark parts of the image as the foreground and the light parts as the background, while ot
hers have the opposite interpretation.

Rubin's Vase

Rubin's Vase is a popular optical illusion used to illustrate differences in perception of stimuli.
Some individuals see a vase because they attend to the black part of the image, while some individuals see two f
aces because they attend to the white parts of the image. Most people can see both, but only one at a time, depen
ding on the processes described above. All stages of the perception process often happen unconsciously and in l
ess than a second.

The Perception Process

The perceptual process is a sequence of steps that begins with stimuli in the environment and ends with our inter
pretation of those stimuli. This process is typically unconscious and happens hundreds of thousands of times a d
ay. An unconscious process is simply one that happens without awareness or intention. When you open your eye
s, you do not need to tell your brain to interpret the light falling onto your retinas from the object in front of you
as "computer" because this has happened unconsciously. When you step out into a chilly night, your brain does
not need to be told "cold" because the stimuli trigger the processes and categories automatically.

Selection

The world around us is filled with an infinite number of stimuli that we might attend to, but our brains do not ha
ve the resources to pay attention to everything. Thus, the first step of perception is the (usually unconscious, but
sometimes intentional) decision of what to attend to. Depending on the environment, and depending on us as ind
ividuals, we might focus on a familiar stimulus or something new. When we attend to one specific thing in our e
nvironment—whether it is a smell, a feeling, a sound, or something else entirely—it becomes the attended stimu
lus.

Organization

Once we have chosen to attend to a stimulus in the environment (consciously or unconsciously, though usually t
he latter), the choice sets off a series of reactions in our brain. This neural process starts with the activation of ou
r sensory receptors (touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing). The receptors transduce the input energy into neural
activity, which is transmitted to our brains, where we construct a mental representation of the stimulus (or, in m
ost cases, the multiple related stimuli) called a percept. An ambiguous stimulus may be translated into multiple p
ercepts, experienced randomly, one at a time, in what is called "multistable perception."

Interpretation
After we have attended to a stimulus, and our brains have received and organized the information, we interpret it
in a way that makes sense using our existing information about the world. Interpretation simply means that we t
ake the information that we have sensed and organized and turn it into something that we can categorize. For ins
tance, in the Rubin's Vase illusion mentioned earlier, some individuals will interpret the sensory information as
"vase," while some will interpret it as "faces." This happens unconsciously thousands of times a day. By putting
different stimuli into categories, we can better understand and react to the world around us.

Duck or Rabbit?

In this famous optical illusion, your interpretation of this image as a duck or a rabbit depends on how you organi
ze the information that you attend to.