Perception
hideIn 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
'Mind's eye' influences visual perception
Biology /
Jul 01, 2008 |
4.5 / 5 (41) |
7
Letting your imagination run away with you may actually influence how you see the world. New research from Vanderbilt University has found that mental imagery—what we see with the "mind's eye"—directly impacts ...
You can control your Marilyn Monroe neuron
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 22, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (26) |
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.
Where does consciousness come from?
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Mar 17, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (22) |
15
Consciousness arises as an emergent property of the human mind. Yet basic questions about the precise timing, location and dynamics of the neural event(s) allowing conscious access to information are not clearly and unequivocally ...
A road of no return: Team implements the first '1-way roads' for light
Oct 08, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (21) |
2
Light readily bounces off obstacles in its path. Some of these reflections are captured by our eyes, thus participating in the visual perception of the objects around us. In contrast to this usual behavior ...
'Perfect Pitch' in Humans Far More Prevalent than Expected
Aug 25, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (19) |
0
Researchers at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences have developed a unique test for perfect pitch, and have found surprising results.
Barrow scientists solve 200-year-old scientific debate involving visual illusions
Nov 20, 2008 |
4 / 5 (12) |
0
Neuroscientists at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center have discovered a direct link between eye motions and the perception of illusory motion that solves a 200-year-old debate.
Wide heads give hammerheads exceptional stereo view
Nov 27, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (10) |
4
Hammerhead sharks are some of the Ocean's most distinctive residents. 'Everyone wants to understand why they have this strange head shape,' says Michelle McComb from Florida Atlantic University. One possible ...
Use it or lose it? Study suggests the brain can remember a 'forgotten' language
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Sep 24, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (9) |
1
Many of us learn a foreign language when we are young, but in some cases, exposure to that language is brief and we never get to hear or practice it subsequently. Our subjective impression is often that the neglected language ...
Depression does 'make your brown eyes blue'
May 05, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (9) |
3
It's more than just feeling bad. Clinical depression affects the way we process information in the brain, negatively affecting memory, attention span, and the brain's ability to learn new things. Now Tel ...
Scientists show that people really walk in circles when lost (w/ Video)
Aug 20, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (9) |
13
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists in the Multisensory Perception and Action Group at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, led by Jan Souman and Marc Ernst, have now presented ...
A woman's nose knows body odor
Apr 07, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (9) |
1
It may be wise to trust the female nose when it comes to body odor. According to new research from the Monell Center, it is more difficult to mask underarm odor when women are doing the smelling.
Looming sounds boost visual perception
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Oct 16, 2009 |
5 / 5 (8) |
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 ...
Professor finds that iconic Oswald photo was not faked (w/ Video)
Technology / Computer Sciences
Nov 05, 2009 |
3.9 / 5 (10) |
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 ...
Hollow mask illusion fails to fool schizophrenia patients
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Apr 06, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (8) |
3
Patients with schizophrenia are able to correctly see through an illusion known as the 'hollow mask' illusion, probably because their brain disconnects 'what the eyes see' from what 'the brain thinks it is seeing', according ...
Scientists show that language shapes perception
Feb 26, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (8) |
6
(PhysOrg.com) -- Advances in cognitive neuroscience (the science of how the brain works when we think) have shown that what our eyes see and what our brain interprets are two different things. Professor Guillaume Thierry, ...
