Alright, let’s talk about this… uh… AP Psychology Perception thing. Don’t you go thinkin’ this is gonna be some fancy-pants talk, I’m just gonna tell it like it is, the way I see it, ya know?
First off, they talk about sensation. What’s that? Well, it’s like when you see somethin’, hear somethin’, smell somethin’. Like, you see a big ol’ red tomato in your garden, that’s sensation. You hear that rooster crowin’ at the crack of dawn, that’s sensation too. You smell that rain comin’ in, yup, sensation. It’s just stuff your body picks up, plain and simple.
Then there’s this perception thing. Now, that’s a bit trickier. It ain’t just seein’ the tomato, it’s knowin’ it’s a tomato, and that it’s ripe and juicy, ready to eat. It’s hearin’ that rooster and knowin’ it’s time to get up and feed the chickens. It’s smellin’ the rain and thinkin’ “I better get them clothes off the line.” Perception is how your brain makes sense of all that stuff it’s feelin’ and hearin’ and smellin’.
They say psychologists study this stuff. Well, I coulda told ’em a thing or two! You see, how you perceive things, that affects how you act. If you see a snake, and you perceive it as dangerous, you’re gonna jump back, right? But if you see a cute little bunny, you might wanna pet it. See? Perception and how you act, they go together like biscuits and gravy.
- Sensation is the basics: Seein’, hearin’, smellin’, tastin’, touchin’.
- Perception is the thinkin’ part: What does all that stuff mean? What do I do about it?
They got this lady, Heather Sellers, they talk about. Poor thing, she’s got somethin’ called prosopagnosia. Means she can’t recognize faces. Her eyes see everything just fine, that’s the sensation part workin’ ok. But her brain can’t put it all together, can’t make sense of the faces. So, she can see her husband, but she don’t perceive him as her husband, she just sees a bunch of shapes and colors. Sad, ain’t it? Shows you how important that perception stuff is.
And then there are these illusions. You know, those pictures that trick your eyes. Like the one that looks like an old lady and a young lady at the same time. Or the one with the lines that look different lengths, but they’re really the same. Those illusions, they show you that your brain ain’t always right. Sometimes it makes mistakes, it perceives things wrong. It just goes to show, perception isn’t always as straight forward as it might seem. You can see things one way, but they might be another way altogether.
There’s also this Gestalt psychology they talk about. Big word, huh? Don’t let it scare ya. It just means your brain likes to see things as a whole, not just a bunch of little pieces. Like, when you see a tree, you don’t see a bunch of leaves and branches, you see a tree. Your brain puts it all together, makes a whole picture out of it. That’s what Gestalt is about. It is about how your brain organizes what you see into something meaningful.
And don’t forget all them senses – vision, hearin’, touch, smell, taste, and somethin’ called proprioception, which is knowin’ where your body is in space. Like, you know your hand is above your head even if you ain’t lookin’ at it. All these senses, they give your brain information, and your brain uses that information to create your perception of the world. They all work together to help you understand what’s going on around you.
So, there you have it. AP Psychology Perception, in plain ol’ English. It’s about how your body feels things and how your brain makes sense of it all. And how that affects how you act. Not so complicated when you think about it, right? It’s just a fancy way of talking about how we experience the world around us, from the sights and sounds to the way we understand people and situations.
Tags: [AP Psychology, Perception, Sensation, Gestalt Psychology, Illusions, Sensory Experience]
