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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Hammerhead shark

Wide heads give hammerheads exceptional stereo view

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 27, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (10) | comments 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 ...


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.


A road of no return

A road of no return: Team implements the first '1-way roads' for light

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Oct 08, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (21) | comments 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 ...


Our Emotions Can Lead Us Astray When Assessing Risks

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Sep 23, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- If you find yourself more concerned about highly publicized dangers that grab your immediate attention such as terrorist attacks, while forgetting about the more mundane threats such as global warming, you're ...


Scientists show that people really walk in circles when lost (w/ Video)

Scientists show that people really walk in circles when lost (w/ Video)

Biology / Other

created Aug 20, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (9) | comments 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 ...


Naming may be key to brain's ability to recognize faces

Naming may be key to brain's ability to recognize faces

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Jun 25, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Our tendency to see people and faces as individuals may explain why we are such experts at recognizing them, new research indicates. This approach can be learned and applied to other objects ...


Modern human brain

Discoveries shed new light on how the brain processes what the eye sees

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Jun 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Researchers at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience (CMBN) at Rutgers University in Newark have identified the need to develop a new framework for understanding "perceptual stability" and how ...


Squid 'sight': Not just through eyes

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 01, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (7) | comments 0

It's hard to miss the huge eye of a squid. But now it appears that certain squids can detect light through an organ other than their eyes as well.


Depression does 'make your brown eyes blue'

Depression does 'make your brown eyes blue'

Medicine & Health / Research

created May 05, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (9) | comments 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 ...


Tweet this: Rapid-fire media may confuse your moral compass

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Apr 13, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (6) | comments 0

Emotions linked to our moral sense awaken slowly in the mind, according to a new study from a neuroscience group led by corresponding author Antonio Damasio, director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University ...


A woman's nose knows body odor

Medicine & Health / Research

created Apr 07, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (9) | comments 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.


How You Feel the World Impacts How You See It

How You Feel the World Impacts How You See It

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Apr 03, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 1

In the classic waterfall illusion, if you stare at the downward motion of a waterfall for some period of time, stationary objects -- like rocks -- appear to drift upward. MIT neuroscientists have found that ...


A human failure, seen at face value

A human failure, seen at face value

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Mar 13, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (6) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- Humans excel at recognizing faces, but how we do this has been an abiding mystery in neuroscience and psychology. In an effort to explain our success in this area, researchers are taking a ...


'It takes 2 to know 1': Shared experiences change self-recognition

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Jan 07, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Looking at yourself in the mirror every morning, you never think to question whether the person you see is actually you. You feel familiar—at home with your own unique self image. After all, you have been sporting the same ...


Why King Kong failed to impress

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Humans have the same receptors for detecting odors related to sex as do other apes and primates. But each species uses them in different ways, stemming from the way the genes for these receptors have evolved over time, according ...