Individual Factors in Perception

In addition to what the stimulus brings to the process of perception, all of us bring our own unique, personal experiences to each perceptual situation. Those things that interest us are much more likely to be perceived. When my wife and I go on an automobile trip, for example, I notice old cars while she notices furniture stores. If you were to ask me about furniture stores or ask her about old cars at the end of the trip, you would get very different answers than vice versa.

Motivation affects perception. If I gave you a perceptual problem to solve you might keep at it for a short time. But, if at the end of that time you still had not solved the problem you might give up. But, if I offered you 20 bonus points toward your final grade, you would probably keep at it for a little longer.

All of us bring a wealth of expectations to any perceptual situation. We expect that fly balls in a baseball game will eventually come down. We expect that a sentence will have a subject, a verb, and an object. We know what we are trying to write, so proof reading our own material is difficult. We may perceive things that fulfill those expectations.

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