Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Perceiving: Perception Process, Chapter 3

Explanation:

Chapter 3, the section on Perceiving was quite interesting.  It’s basically about Human perception sensation. On page 30, it states that human perception is usually a process that involves 3 steps: selection, organization and interpretation.  Selection is limiting the attention only to part of the available. Organization is the process of arranging data in a more meaningful way.  Lastly interpretation is attaching meaning to the data after being selected & organized. 
Many cultures perceive things in a different way from another culture by using this principle.  It is understood that in the vast majority of cases, logical solutions are reached through simple human sensation.  All of which holds true to the linear concept of experience.  On page 67 the example about a dog being a pet or as a hunter.  In America, dogs are pets but in another country, they are hunters.  So in America does will be treated with care like a child and will stay inside the house.  In other countries the dog is seen as a hunter and/or a guard and will remain outside to guard the household.


Reflection:

After reading that section, I clearly understood why certain things are the way they are in certain countries.  For example, the “dog” reading, because I never understood why dogs are not pets in other cultures.  I strongly agree with it now, since in Arab world dogs are seen as watched dogs and as guards.  Arabians see dogs as unclean and as low form of life.  Which is why they remain outside the house.  But in America, dogs are seen as cute and cuddly and are almost treated like a child in some household.  Some countries also see dogs as food, Asia for an example, according to page 68.

Application:

That human perception is culturally influenced has been a proposition entertained by many social scientists. The plausibility of this proposition is high, based as it is upon certain contemporary philosophical and social scientific concepts, such as that of cultural relativism.  Moreover, many facts gathered in psychological laboratories by students of perception, facts that delineate the important role of an individual’s experiences in his subsequent perceptions enhance the plausibility of this proposition. In the case of visual perception, some people can actually see the percept shift in their mind's eye.  Others, who are not picturing thinkers, may not necessarily perceive the 'shape-shifting' as their world changes. The unsophisticated nature has been shown by experiment: a confusing image has multiple interpretations on the perceptual level. The question, "Is the glass half empty or half full?" serves to demonstrate the way an object can be perceived in different ways.  Which brings me back to the “dog” example.  Different cultures can see one and can interpret that thing as something else from another culture.  

2 comments:

  1. wow!!

    i never thought about that. i feel like i learned something after reading this.

    and yes am guilty for just seeing dogs as cute and cuddly. they can also be someone's guard, better yet someone's meal.

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  2. this is interesting. And reminds me of the dogs that have bit me. One named Boo Boo bit me on my bootay while I was playing in the woods behind my house. And for a brief five days a Basset Hound lived at my house, but when it bit my elbow it was given back to the previous owner the next day. Other than those five days, my family has never had a dog as a pet, I guess I agree with the Arabs, I do think their dirty, and smelly too. But cute ones like Pomeranians, I would consider owning.

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