Lecture on the topic “Sensory-perceptual processes: sensation, perception, attention”

• October 10, 2018
• Psychological terms
• Sergey Kostyuchenko Zhelyazkov

Perceptivity is a reflection of reality situations, in which much depends on the individual. Such a display is necessary to form an image of objects. As for psychology, this phenomenon allows us to understand how a person sees a problem and what conclusions he draws as a result of communicating with people around him.

Basic Concepts

Perceptivity is a basic biological process of the human psyche. This function is acquired through the senses, which take part in the formation of a complete image of objects. Perception influences the analyzers through a series of sensations caused by perception.

It is also worth saying that perceptivity is a popular subject of study among psychologists. After all, such a reflection of reality allows us to form a full-fledged image of a certain phenomenon in the human mind.

Note to parents

Forming a system of perceptual actions in a child is primarily the concern of parents. Firstly, they need to closely monitor the health of the baby’s sensory organs, otherwise their insufficient functioning will make it difficult to perceive the features of objects of cognition. Secondly, one should not rely only on educators and teachers: the development of perceptual actions is one of the goals of family education in the early stages of a child’s life. To do this, we need to help him thoroughly examine objects (what they sound like, how they are structured, what parts they are made of, what they feel, taste and smell), teach him how to operate them, and enrich his vocabulary with nouns (what is this?), adjectives (which one? ), verbs (what does it do?).

Children should be shown pictures and techniques of drawing, modeling, design, and practice comparing objects according to different parameters.

The main method of teaching toddlers and young children is play. Children love playing and doing activities together with their parents. Emotional substantive communication with them stimulates the child’s development of perceptual actions.

Varieties of perception

Psychologists classify perception depending on the sensory organ involved as follows:

• Visual perceptivity is a type of perception in which the eyes make saccadic movements - this is how people process the information they have received. When eye movement stops, visual perception begins. This type of perception is influenced by previously developed stereotypes. For example, when a person is used to skimming a text, it will be difficult for him to fully process the material being studied. He may not notice large paragraphs, and if asked, he will say that they were not in the book.
• Auditory perceptivity in psychology is a method of perception in which the melodic and phonemic system plays an important role. In this case, motor components are involved (they are separated into a separate full-fledged system - for example, singing a melody allows you to develop an ear for music).

There are also the following types of perception, in which information is reflected through understanding rather than through the senses. This is the perception of direction and distance of objects that are located at a distance, and the perception of time, that is, the sequence and speed of events.

The essence of the perception of time is that all people have different internal clocks. Often they do not coincide with circadian rhythms. To perceive such rhythms, a person uses additional analyzers.

The concept of sensory-perceptual process

Definition 1
Sensory-perceptual processes are those processes that, through the human senses, provide a connection between the internal and external world.

A person’s life is a continuous series of actions that accompany him from the moment of birth to the end of his life. Among them there are those that are called perceptual.

Definition 2

Perception is a person’s perception or ability to reflect surrounding objects and situations.

Perception allows us to cognize the surrounding reality and contributes to the formation of an individual understanding of it. Each person perceives the surrounding reality in his own way. Nevertheless, despite different perceptions, people in their development go through certain stages, accompanied by specific ones, i.e. perceptual actions. They are components of the structure of the process of perception and activity.

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Perception and action are inextricably linked. The formation and development of perceptual actions is carried out during the learning process and is divided into three stages:

• the first stage is associated with childhood, when the child begins to perform actions with unfamiliar objects, an adequate image of the object is formed and subsequently becomes a sensory standard;
• the second stage is associated with the restructuring of sensory processes and, under the influence of practical activities, they become perceptual actions, familiarization with the spatial properties of objects occurs;
• the third stage is characterized by a reduction and curtailment of external actions, which become hidden, occurring at the level of consciousness and subconscious.

By this time, the child has already formed a system of sensory standards, for example, a system of geometric figures. Thanks to standards, sensory-perceptual actions change and their process of image construction turns into a process of identification.

Social perception

The development and emergence of human interaction is possible subject to mutual understanding. It is important that people understand not only those around them, but also their own personality. This is possible due to the processes of communication and relationships formed between people during the conversation. It is also important to consider the methods used to implement collaborative activities.

A mandatory component of communication is the process of cognition. This component is the perceptual aspect of communication. Scientists consider social perception to be an important and serious phenomenon in psychology. For the first time such a definition was introduced by D. Bruner (he formed a different view on human perception of various subjects).

Meaning of Perception

The sense organs are conductors and intermediaries between man and the outside world. It is they (visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, gustatory) that provide a holistic perception of the environment, receiving irritant signals on the receptor surfaces. As a result, a person receives a complete understanding of objects and phenomena, their properties and qualities, and builds his “relationships” with them.

In addition to sensations, the perception of the world is provided by thinking, speech, memory, therefore the perceptual activity of an individual is a complex cumulative process that depends on many individual properties of his psyche.

Mechanisms of perception

Social perceptivity is the determination of the feelings of the interlocutor. The mechanism is simple: a person interacts with the interlocutor as a person (this is how his interlocutors perceive him).

Communication is an important mechanism. Its essence is that the interlocutors are trying to understand each other. Communication is mediated not only by the presence of a system for understanding information, but also by the characteristics of the interlocutor’s perception.

Communication implies the presence of interpersonal perception, that is, the development of first impressions about the interlocutor. Therefore, psychologists identify several mechanisms of perception, which are specific methods that involve assessing and analyzing the behavior of the interlocutor. The most common mechanisms are identification, causal attribution and social reflection.

As for casual attribution, its essence is in analyzing the reaction to the behavior of the interlocutor, that is, a person makes assumptions about why his interlocutor behaves this way and not otherwise. In this case, a person is based on the similarity of the interlocutor’s behavior with people with whom he communicated before, or uses his own experience.

Causal attribution uses the principle of analogy. It depends on how the person assessing the interlocutor’s behavior perceives himself. The essence of identification is that a person tries to understand the interlocutor, making an assumption about what his state of mind is, trying to put himself in the place of the one with whom he is communicating.

Identification allows you to understand the interlocutor’s values, behavior and habits. It has a special meaning in adolescence and youth, because during this period the relationship between the teenager (youth) and society is created.

Social reflection refers to the process and result of a person’s self-perception. The main tool of social reflection is a person’s understanding of his personal characteristics. He tries to understand how they are expressed in reaction to the behavior of the interlocutor, and how others perceive them.

The essence of empathy is that a person empathizes with the interlocutor and tries to understand his internal state. Empathy is based on understanding the experiences of the interlocutor, as well as understanding how he evaluates what is happening. Empathy is an important professional trait of a teacher or psychologist.

Perception - what is it?

The term "perception" can be considered in two contexts. In one of them:

Perception is the process through which images of the surrounding world are formed, a reflection of reality in the psyche.

In this case, the concept is a verb, that is, an action.

In another context, perception is a noun, an object, a result, an image itself.

Most often, science (what is this?) uses the first version of meanings. We will rely on it in this article.

Perception is synonymous with the word perception, which, in turn, translated from Latin perceptio means subjective, sensory knowledge of the environment. Words such as appreciation, acceptance, contemplation and others are also used equally.

What is perception in simple words? In the process of life, a person does not stop learning about the world. For example, in a store you are interested in some thing: you take it in your hands to understand what its texture, weight, density, color, smell, taste and so on, that is, you use the necessary senses (food - taste, book - vision).

All these characteristics cause different sensations, which together give rise to the image of the object. The process of cognition, therefore, is perception.

It is important to note that perception in psychology is not just the sum of sensations. It also includes our individual knowledge and beliefs about the world. This phenomenon is closely related to other mental processes: memory, thinking, speech, motivational sphere and attention.

Making a first impression

Psychologists identify the following factors that determine what impression is formed about a person:

• Superiority is usually observed when a person who is superior to his interlocutor is also highly rated on other characteristics. The result is a revision of the person being assessed. This factor primarily depends on the insecure behavior of the observer. So in extreme situations, many people trust those whom they would not have dared to approach before.
• Attractiveness explains the properties of perception for an interlocutor whose external characteristics are attractive. The main error of perception in this case is that people often overestimate the psychological properties of a person who looks attractive.
• The “attitude” factor implies that a person perceives the interlocutor depending on how he treats him. The main mistake here is the tendency to overestimate the interlocutor who agrees with an opinion or is friendly.

Types of perception

The world is huge and diverse: each object or phenomenon is perceived through different receivers or analyzers, one of which is always leading.

When reading printed information, we rely more on vision, when eating - on taste sensations, hugging a person, we perceive him through the body, tactile contact.

There are several classifications of types of perception:

By modality:

1. visual – creating a visual image:
2. auditory – receptivity to sounds;
3. tactile perception – reading information about the environment through tactile sensations;
4. olfactory – distinguishing odors;
5. gustatory – building an image using taste sensations.

Depending on the host analyzer:

1. Simple sight is sight, hearing and touch. All healthy people have this type of perception. Depending on which analyzer a person uses most often, he is classified as a group of people with the corresponding type of perception: kinesthetic (sensations, movement) - a person (he is called a kinesthetic) reads information, relying most on the movement of objects, the sensations that these objects call. In his speech the words “take”, “grasp”, “try”, “feel”, “feel” are constantly heard;
2. auditory (sound) - most of the perception of the world occurs through hearing. Such people often say “I hear”, “listen”, “listen”, “sounds” and others;
3. visual (vision) – the leading receiver is the eyes: “I see”, “I look”, “I imagine”.

Thus, by listening to how a person speaks, one can calculate his individual type of simple perception. This knowledge will help solve the eternal problem of interaction - the inability to understand each other. The latter occurs precisely because of different abilities to “see” the world.

By updating method:

Perception in psychology can also be voluntary or involuntary . The first necessarily has a goal, intention and awareness of actions. For example, a child reads a book and understands why he is doing it. He directs all his attention to this activity, focuses his vision on the letters, and holds the textbook in his hands.

Involuntary perception is caused by the environment, not by the individual's goals. A striking example: the reaction of the leg to a neurologist’s hammer, with which he hits under the kneecap to check physiological reactions.

Development of perceptual skills

According to psychologists, a simple smile is enough for friendly communication and mutual sympathy. To develop perceptual skills, psychologists recommend learning to smile. Facial expressions provide information about a person’s feelings, so if you learn to control them, you can improve your perceptual skills.

Ekman's technique will allow you to learn to distinguish manifestations of emotions and improve perception skills. Its essence is that three zones can be distinguished on the face (forehead and eyes, mouth and chin, and nose). It is in these zones that the manifestation of basic emotions (sadness, joy, fear, and so on) is noted.

The nature of the perception process

The external environment and its individual objects and phenomena influence the senses through analyzers. Their complex interaction ensures the flow of information into the brain centers and its processing.

Complex analysis and synthesis of external data ensure the creation of a holistic image: external and hidden, internal properties and qualities of the object are determined. That is, a number of its characteristics are formed.

The process of perceiving the same object is unique, as is its mental image, since they depend on the individual mental and physiological characteristics of a person. Life principles, views, motives, interests, preferences as the results of upbringing and lifestyle certainly determine the assessment of the properties and qualities of an object. For example, the same work of art can be emotionally assessed by different observers as “strikingly beautiful” and… “disgusting.”

A few words about role principles of behavior

Separately, it is worth mentioning the role principles of behavior. Thus, the role principle of perceptivity is that a person’s role should be positively perceived by his interlocutors, and he, in turn, should positively perceive their interests.

The principle of interactivity is that the fulfillment of a certain role by a person in society should simplify the regulation of the behavior of his interlocutors by influencing his goals and motives. Just like the role principle of perceptivity, it implies that the interests of the interlocutor must be taken into account.

Person's perception by person

An interesting picture emerges when it comes to the perception of a person by a person. Interesting because in reality we don’t see each other when we first meet as we really are, and there are many reasons for this.

Have you noticed that when you meet a person who has a pleasant appearance for you, you automatically consider him kind and good? And if he has external similarities with his beloved friend, mother, brother, then sympathy for him increases significantly?

The perception of others is determined by many more factors that we consciously or not pay attention to: posture, gestures, speech culture, manners, behavior, his profession, status and others.

So, there are 4 ways to interpret the characteristics of other people:

1. emotional – beautiful, which means good, sincere;
2. analytical - frowning eyebrows, sharp cheekbones “characterize” an evil person;
3. perceptual-associative - similar to a harmful neighbor, which means just as unpleasant;
4. social-associative – attributing social qualities to a person based on appearance. Torn, dirty clothes “tell” us about a dysfunctional personality and makes us want to stay away. But a neat suit and an expensive car elevate a stranger in our eyes.

General characteristics and physiological basis of perception

Perception is a complex system of processes for obtaining and transforming information that provides the body with an image of objective reality and orientation in the surrounding world. It is the starting point of the cognitive process, together with sensation, which provides it with the original sensory material. The physiological basis of perception are processes in the sensory organs, nerve fibers and the central nervous system. Thus, under the influence of stimuli, nerve excitations occur in the nerve endings present in the sense organs, which are transmitted along pathways to the nerve centers and, finally, to the cerebral cortex. Here he goes to the projection (sensory) areas of the cerebral cortex, which are like the central projection of the nerve endings present in the sense organs.

It should be noted that the mechanism described above is a mechanism for the formation of sensations. Indeed, sensations are formed at the level of the proposed scheme. Consequently, sensations can be considered as a structural element of the process of perception. Own physiological mechanisms of perception are involved in the process of forming a holistic image at further stages, when excitation from the projection zones is transferred to the integrative zones of the cerebral cortex, where the formation of images of real world phenomena is completed. Therefore, the integration zones of the cerebral cortex, which complete the process of perception, can be called perception zones. Their functions differ significantly from the functions of projection zones. This difference becomes obvious when one or another zone is violated. When the function of the visual projection zone is impaired, so-called central blindness occurs, i.e. when the periphery - the sense organs - is completely devoid of visual sensations, a person sees nothing.

When the integrative zone is damaged or disrupted, a person sees some points of light, some contours, but he does not recognize what he sees. He no longer understands what affects him and does not even recognize familiar objects. When auditory integration areas are disrupted, people no longer understand human speech. Such disorders are called agnosias (disorders resulting in the impossibility of cognition) or agnosias. The physiological basis of cognition is further complicated by the fact that it is closely related to motor function, emotional experience, and various thought processes. Consequently, nervous excitations caused by external stimuli, starting in the sense organs, are transmitted to the recognition neurons of the corresponding centers of the brain, where they cover various areas of the cortex and language centers and interact with other nervous excitations. Compared to sensations, perception is the highest form of analytical-synthetic activity of the brain. Meaningful perception without analysis is impossible.