Perception

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In philosophy, psychology, and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. It is a task far more complex than was imagined in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was predicted that building perceiving machines would take about a decade, a goal which is still very far from fruition. The word comes from the Latin words perceptio, percipio, and means "receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses."

Perception is one of the oldest fields in psychology. The oldest quantitative law in psychology is the Weber-Fechner law, which quantifies the relationship between the intensity of physical stimuli and their perceptual effects. The study of perception gave rise to the Gestalt school of psychology, with its emphasis on holistic approach.

What one perceives is a result of interplays between past experiences, including one’s culture, and the interpretation of the perceived. If the percept does not have support in any of these perceptual bases it is unlikely to rise above perceptual threshold.

For more information about Perception, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with perception

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Study looks at scientific, cultural perspectives on race

Biology / Other

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (3) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study compares personal perceptions of race, color and ancestry of Brazilian high school students with the results of genetic ancestry tests, with the aim of investigating the tensions between cultural ...


Report Says Musicians Hear Better Than Non-Musicians

Report Says Musicians Hear Better Than Non-Musicians

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Journal of Neuroscience reports this week that musicians are better than non-musicians at recognizing speech in noisy environments.  The finding from a study conducted by neurobiologists at Nor ...


Study: Nonprofits put brand at risk in corporate partnerships

Other Sciences / Economics

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (3) | comments 2

Charities and other nonprofits may put their brand at risk when they partner with corporations on social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The public can easily construe such connections as a seal of approval of the corporation ...


Discussing adverse events with patients improves how they rate their hospital care

Medicine & Health / Other

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A survey of patients had who experienced some sort of adverse event during their hospitalization found that, although caregivers discussed the event with patients less than half the time, those patients to whom the adverse ...


RIT scholars explore the impact of imaging on our reality

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Imaging is the use of machines to enhance humans' ability to perceive things, often by producing visible phenomena that cannot be seen with the naked eye. But, can imaging technology distort reality and even change what humans ...


Dartmouth professor finds that iconic Oswald photo was not faked

Professor finds that iconic Oswald photo was not faked (w/ Video)

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (10) | comments 72

(PhysOrg.com) -- Dartmouth Computer Scientist Hany Farid has new evidence regarding a photograph of accused John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Farid, a pioneer in the field of digital forensics, digitally ...


Digital divide: Psychologists suggest ways to include the aging population in the tech revolution

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Technology is no longer what it used to be: Computers have replaced typewriters and landlines are in rapid decline. Technological advances are being made every day, making many of our lives easier and allowing information ...


A vast right arm conspiracy? Study suggests handedness may effect body perception

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

There are areas in the brain devoted to our arms, legs, and various parts of our bodies. The way these areas are distributed throughout the brain are known as "body maps" and there are some significant differences in these ...


Researchers rest their case: TV consumption predicts opinions about criminal justice system

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

People who watch forensic and crime dramas on TV are more likely than non-viewers to have a distorted perception of America's criminal justice system, according to new research from Purdue University.


neuron

You can control your Marilyn Monroe neuron

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (26) | comments 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a scientific first, researchers have been able to demonstrate the ability of humans to control the activity of individual brain cells.


Can we 'learn to see?': Study shows perception of invisible stimuli improves with training

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 21, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Although we assume we can see everything in our field of vision, the brain actually picks and chooses the stimuli that come into our consciousness. A new study in the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology's ...


Looking for the origins of music in the brain

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Oct 20, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (4) | comments 2

Music serves as a natural and non-invasive intervention for patients with severe neurological disorders to promote long-term memory, social interaction and communication. However, there is currently no plausible explanation ...


Looming sounds boost visual perception

Looming sounds boost visual perception

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Oct 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Whether it’s the sound of a speeding car approaching from out of the blue, or the faint echo of footsteps following you along a dark street, such looming sounds not only make our ears prick ...


Television has less effect on education about climate change than other forms of media

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Oct 16, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Worried about climate change and want to learn more? You probably aren't watching television then. A new study by George Mason University Communication Professor Xiaoquan Zhao suggests that watching television has no significant ...


Philips Emotions Jacket -- a new level in immersive cinematic experience

Philips Emotions Jacket -- a new level in immersive cinematic experience

Technology / Hi Tech

created Oct 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The Emotions Jacket is a research platform that uses the sense of touch to take the cinematic experience to new levels, allowing viewers to experience the intense emotions felt by characters on-screen. While ...