AP Psychology Perception
Subject:
Psychology [1]
Perception If sensation is the bottom-up process of converting environmental energy into central nervous system messages, perception is the top-down process to make sense of those messages. Computers and robots simply detect and respond based on a network of predetermined rules. As humans, our previous experiences, opinions, and expectations mold fundamental sensations into individual perceptions; foods have a personal taste, certain music inspires emotion, colors affect our moods. Selective attention, sometimes labeled the cocktail party effect, is the ability to focus our concentration on specific stimuli. We mask the chaos of surrounding sensations and focus our attention on what we interpret to be important.