For this post I’d like you to identify an example of a time where perception and reality are not totally in sync with one another and to describe how the example you give could be explained with one of the concepts covered in the materials on sensation and perception. Specifically I want you to describe a time where you or someone you know or a character in a TV show, movie, or book had a perception that seems to have been different in some way from objective reality. Explain what the perception was and how it differed from objective reality. Next, describe and define a concept from the material on sensation and perception that you think can be used to explain why perception differed from reality in your example. Then use this concept to explain why there was a discrepancy between perception and reality in your example.
Here is an example to help you know what I’m looking for:
When doing role call on the first day of class I perceived and read the last name Wison as Wilson. My perception was that the name was Wilson, when in reality the name was Wison (no L) (notice that in this sentence I have given an example of an experience I had where perception differed from reality). This provides an example of top-down processing, which involves using expectations when creating perceptions and involves processing by seeing a whole prior to processing all the individual elements (notice that in this sentence I have identified a concept of perception and have described the concept). Since the name Wilson is more common than Wison I expected to see Wilson and so I processed it as the whole I expected rather than noticing each letter separately, which would have allowed me to notice that the L was missing (notice how in this sentence I have used the concept of top-down processing and the idea that it involves the way that expectations influence our perceptions to explain why my perception differed from reality).