Influences on Perception

Have you ever seen a sunset? Have you been captivated by the brilliant colors that bring you peace and perhaps romantic memories? This sensory experience of the world is referred to as perception.

• How does perception work?
• What are psychological influences on perception?
• What are environmental influences on perception?
• What are cultural influences on perception?
• What are media influences on perception?

Perception Process

The world around us contains many stimuli that our brains need to process. It happens continually without awareness or intention.

The perception process is divided into three stages (selection, organization, and interpretation), which begin with external inputs and end with our perception of those stimuli.

Selection

The initial stage of the perception process is when a person decides what to focus on, either consciously or unconsciously. The mind will focus on something specific because it cannot concentrate on all the stimuli received. It could be a fragrance, an emotion, a sound, or anything else; whatever it is, it becomes the preferred stimulus.

Organization

Organization is the second stage of perception in which we cognitively organize stimuli into meaningful and understandable patterns. The process makes it possible to make sense of what we’re seeing. Factors that impact how a person links experiences into wholes or patterns include closeness, similarity, and consistency.

Interpretation

The process through which we represent and comprehend stimuli is known as interpretation. It is when we make meaning of what has happened and then decide what it means to us. Different people might reach different conclusions given the same stimulus. The interpretations are subjective and are based on personal factors such as cultural norms, interests, values, experiences, ambitions, motivation, self-concept, and other personal influences.

Influences on Perception in Psychology

Fg. 2 Advertisements displaying external factors on perception, pexels.com

External Factors

The image above illustrates some basic concepts external factors that influence perception.

• Size: The bigger the size of the stimulus, the more likely it is to attract attention.

• Intensity: More intense stimuli, such as brighter colors, are more noticeable.

• Contrast: The perception that stands out the most, different from the usual, will likely catch the eye.

• Movement: When something is moving, it catches the attention and is perceived more easily.

• Repetition: Repetitive exposure influences selection and is likely to be more easily perceived.

• Novelty and familiarity: New ideas are more likely to be perceivable. However, familiarity is also attention-grabbing in certain circumstances.

Physiological Influences

In a physiological sense, influences on perception may come from developmental changes in our bodies as we age, how we process sensory inputs, health, hunger, and neurological conditions affecting behavior.

Senses

A person’s ability to receive and interpret sensory information can influence his perception. A person who is color-blind may perceive a painting differently from another person who sees colors differently. Persons who react to stimuli more strongly than others may perceive something as a threat or harm.

Age

Age can affect our perception. Growing up as a child, you may like wearing matching outfits with your siblings because this is something valuable to you, but as you become older, it’s not a big deal anymore. As a teenager, maybe you don’t see the importance of financial literacy, savings, and investment. However, as an adult, you now see its value and begin to educate yourself on spending wisely. Another physiological aspect of age is the experiences gained, and the developmental differences of the lifespan.

Neurobehavioral Challenges

Neurobehavioral challenges resulting from stroke or other brain injuries can also affect perception. Common behavioral challenges include aggression, difficulty regulating emotions and behavior, restlessness, cognitive changes, inappropriate sexual behaviors, and impulsivity. Persons with ADHD or bipolar disorder may also exhibit some neurobehavioral challenges that may affect their perception.

Psychological Influences

These influences include mood or emotional state, and self-concept. Psychological factors impact how we perceive others, and perception of others also relates to influences on perception communication. How we perceive others may not always be accurate. This can affect how we communicate that perception through behavior and human relationships. The halo or reverse halo effect exemplifies this. This concept tells us that people have the tendency to generalize their perception of others, based on one negative or positive trait that they see.

Mood

Do you sometimes find yourself overreacting in some situations? Moods can also affect perception. A person in a bad mood may find a minor inconvenience very stressful or annoying, which usually wouldn't affect them much on other days. The opposite holds true when you're in a good mood.

Self-Concept

Self-concept is how a person sees himself and the beliefs that go along with it. This concept isn’t permanent. It may change from time to time based on a person’s positive and negative experiences and interactions with others.

It can also be true of how a person perceives others. A person who has an overall positive belief about himself can confidently interact with others and create healthy perceptions of other people.

Environmental Influences

The type of environment a person sees and exists, in may also influence his perception of different things.

Physical factors in the background can also influence perception. A study by Yildirim et al. (2011) showed that in a computer classroom setup, factors such as the distance from one computer to another, spaciousness, room décor such as plants, and visual appeal affected students’ perception of the learning space positively or negatively. This suggests that a good learning environment can boost motivation and productivity.

Cultural Influences

The culture you grew up with may affect how you perceive people and situations. These factors affect how you select, organize, and interpret information, leading to the perception that you may have of a particular scenario, experience, or even in dealings with other people.

Media Influences

Repetition is just one external factor advertisers use to influence people’s perception of a product or service. However, there is more to media influence on perception. There are two current theories on media influence: agenda-setting, and cultivation theory. In the agenda-setting theory, the media shapes people’s perception by selecting a topic, making it sensational, and highlighting its coverage over other issues to impact people, thereby shaping their opinions about it. The cultivation theory states that media can influence the attitude and behavior of a person. Whatever media content a person consumes and is repeatedly exposed to can cultivate his perceptions about the world.

Other examples of media influence are political campaigns, advertisements, and public service messages.