7 Most Important Characteristics of Perception

Perception can be defined as the meaningful interpretation of information received by the senses. In other words, it is a process in which the sensory experience is organised, interpreted and made meaningful.

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Some important characteristics of perception are as follows:

1. Perception is a selective process:

We do not perceive each and everything in the world or around us. We attend to only a part of the stimuli around us. We select only a limited range of stimuli to which we attend. Attention is a basic process in perception. It makes our perception selective in nature. What we select would depend upon our needs, interests, and motives or on the nature of stimuli to which we are exposed.

2. Perception requires sensation:

Perception is intimately related to sensation. In order for perception to occur, we must first experience some sensation.

3. Perception involves organisation:

Perception is not merely a collection of present sensations and memory traces of past experiences. It is a meaningful and integrated organization of past and present knowledge.

4. Perception involves past experience:

Per­ception involves past experience also. The present information can be meaningfully understood only when we integrate our past and interpret it in terms of present or future consequences.

5. Change is the basis of perception:

Perception is always a response to some change or diffe­rence in the environment. If the world were uniformly the same we would experience no perception. E.g., change in the weather, style of dress, food, etc. is easily perceived. Any change in the normal routine is perceived quickly.

6. Perception is objective as well as subjective:

We all perceive certain things as the same e.g., table, chair, etc. are perceived by every one of us in a more or less similar manner. This is objective perception. In many cases our per­ception is considerably influenced by our thoughts, motives, interests, etc. Such percep­tion is subjective in nature, e.g., an ambiguous event may be perceived differently by diffe­rent individuals.

7. Perception has affective aspect:

Our percep­tion often induces emotions in us. When we perceive an old friend we feel happy. When we perceive a snake we are afraid. Thus, perception produces feelings and emotions.