Type your answer to each question directly below the question. This assignment r

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Type your answer to each question directly below the question. This assignment requires Level 1 Writing Guidelines. 4. Read this example of differences in perception. Why do you think the two groups described interpret this picture differently? Don't miss this When a stimulus is presented to you, your sense organs relay that information to your brain. Your brain processes it and determines whether it is an image, pain, odor, or other type of sensation. The next step is interpretation of the sensation. This means that your brain attaches meaning to the sensory information it has received. Perception brings meaning to sensation, thus producing an interpretation of the external world, not a perfect representation of it. Perceptual Processing A percept is the meaningful product of perception-often an image associated with particular concepts, memories of events, emotions, and motives. Stimuli are not necessarily translated into percepts and rarely does a single stimulus translate to a percept. Also, absence of stimuli may be translated in a percept. For example, the image on this page could be interpreted as a vase while absence of stimuli around it could be interpreted as two faces facing each other Feature detectors are specialized cells in the cortex that help us detect specific features of stimuli. The brain then binds sensations from all of the senses in a whole to form a percept. An image of a talking person on a TV screen, for example, is bound to the sound of speech from the speakers to form a percept of a talking person. It is unknown exactly how the brain does this. The binding problem is one of the great mysteries in psychology Perception involves two types of processing. Top-down processing begins with a concept in your mind that you then use to interpret stimuli. Bottom-up processing begins with the characteristics of a stimulus. In other words, in top-down processing, you start with the whole and work your way down to the parts. In bottom-up processing, you look at the parts in order to discern the whole. Theories of Perception The two major theories of perception explain how it works based on either nature or nurture. Gestalt psychologists believe that perception is shaped by genetic factors, whereas learning-based inference emphasizes experiences. According to Gestalt theory, our brains attempt to make stimuli meaningful. To do this, our brains tend to perceive the simplest patterns possible and then assign meaning based on those inferences. The laws of perceptual grouping explain some of the ways in which we tend to interpret random patterns. Learning-based theorists suggest that rather than everyone's brain interpreting things in a similar way, we each use our past experiences to help us understand stimuli. In this theory, context, perceptual set, and your expectations influence perceptions. Research supports both theories, and like most things, perception is based on a combination of both nature and nurture.

Explanation / Answer

Perception is subjective. Every individual processes and labels perception differently. Culture or interaction with one's environment plays a very important role in perception. I perceived the above image as a window through which shrubbery can be seen. On the other hand, when a similar sketch to people from East Africa were shown, nearly all the participants in the experiment said that the woman was balancing a box or metal on her head. Culture indeed plays a very important role in perception. Like you are aware of the economical and living conditions in Africa, you would be aware of their lifestyle. People in Africa are not so blessed like we are in the western countries. Extensive labour is involved for survival in Africa. Women have to walk miles just to get a bucket of water which they carry on their head. They are continuously struggling for survival. Earning a little money involves hard work of day and night. Westerners on the other hand are bred in a different culture altogether. Leisure is something very common to them unlike the people from East Africa. Thus, that explains as to why participants from East Africa in the experiment said that the woman was balancing a box or metal on her head and the westerners interpreted it as a window through which shrubbery can be seen.

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