for BS level students

1. Perception, the Self and
Communication
Rashid Ali Khuhro

2. Perception
What is perception?
The process of becoming aware of objects and
events from the senses.
Active perception
Perception in which your mind selects, organizes,
and interprets that which you sense.
Subjective perception
Your uniquely constructed meaning attributed to
sensed stimuli.

3. Why Do Differences in Perception Occur?
Perception is subjective, active, and creative. Differences in perception may be the result
of:
• Physiological factors
People differ from each other in sex (gender), height, weight, body type, and senses.
• Past experiences and roles
a. Perceptual constancy: The idea that your past experiences lead you to see the
world in a way that is difficult to change; your initial perceptions persist.
b. Role: The part an individual plays in a group; an individual’s function or expected
behavior.
• Cultures and co-cultures
a. Culture: A system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that
the members of a society use to cope with one another and with their world.
b. Co-culture: A group whose beliefs or behaviors distinguish it from the larger culture
of which it is a part and with which it shares numerous similarities.
• Present feelings and circumstances

4. What Occurs in Perception?
1. Selection
a. Selective exposure
The tendency to expose yourself to information that reinforces,
rather than contradicts, your beliefs or opinions.
b. Selective attention
The tendency, when you expose yourself to information and
ideas, to focus on certain cues and ignore others.
c. Selective perception
The tendency to see, hear, and believe only what you want to
see, hear, and believe.
d. Selective retention
The tendency to remember better the things that reinforce
your beliefs rather than those that oppose them.

5. 2. Organization
a. Figure and Ground
-Figure
The focal point of your attention.
-Ground
The background against which your focused attention occurs.
b. Closure
The tendency to fi ll in missing information in order to
complete an otherwise incomplete figure or statement.
c. Proximity
The principle that objects physically close to each other will be
perceived as a unit or group.
d. Similarity
The principle that elements are grouped together because they
share attributes such as size, color, or shape.

6. 3. Interpretation
a. Interpretive perception
Perception that involves a blend of internal
states and external stimuli.