Key Theories On The Psychology Of Perception

Perception is defined as “the process or result of becoming aware of objects, relationships, and events by means of the senses, which includes such activities as recognizing, observing, and discriminating.” It allows us to notice and then interpret stimuli around us so we can understand and respond accordingly. While perception may seem simple, it’s actually a complex and highly individualized process with many psychological components and implications. Below, we’ll cover the basics of perception psychology along with a few of the leading theories on this topic.

How we perceive the world around us

Let’s start with a brief overview of the basic mechanisms of perception—that is, the ways in which we’re able to perceive the world around us. Scientists now recognize seven senses that humans can use to gather information about our surroundings:

• Visual perception: sight perceived through the eyes
• Auditory perception: sounds perceived through the ears
• Gustatory perception: awareness of flavor and taste on the tongue 
• Olfactory perception: smelling via the nose
• Tactile perception: awareness of sensation on the skin
• Vestibular sense: perception of balance and motion
• Proprioception: perception of the body’s position in space

A brief introduction to perception psychology

Perception psychology is a division of cognitive psychology that studies how humans receive and understand the information delivered through the senses. As mentioned above, perception is a network of bodily systems and sense organs that receive information and then process it. As we interact with the physical world, our brains interpret this information to make sense of what we experience. 

Our brains also automatically attempt to group perceptions to help us understand and interpret our world. There are six main principles the human mind uses to organize what it perceives:

Similarity

grouping things that look like each other. Items with the same shape, size, and/or color make up parts of perceived patterns that appear to belong together.

Proximity

grouping things according to how physically close they are to each other. The closer together they are, the more likely the brain will identify them as a group—even if they don’t have any connection to each other.

Continuity

the tendency to perceive individual elements as a whole rather than a series of parts

Inclusiveness

perceiving all elements of an image before recognizing the parts of it. For example, you may sense a car before recognizing the color, make, or who is inside. 

Closure

seeing a partial image and filling in the gaps of what is believed should be there. This ability allows one to overlook a partial understanding and perceive the situation in its entirety despite missing information. 

Prägnanz

a tendency to simplify complex stimuli into a simple pattern. An example is looking at a complex building and being aware of the front door while not registering the structure’s many other features.

Main perception psychology theories today

Psychologists and researchers continue to explore the nuances of this complex field. As of today, here’s a brief overview of some of the key perception psychology theories out there. Note that none of these completely explains the process in every instance; this field of study is ongoing.

Perception psychology according to Bruner

Jerome S. Bruner was an American psychologist who theorized that people go through various processes before they form opinions about what they have observed. According to Bruner, people use different informational cues to ultimately define their perceptions. This information-seeking continues until the individual comes across a familiar part and the mind categorizes it. If signals are distorted or do not fit a person’s initial perceptions, the images are forgotten or ignored while a picture forms on the most familiar perceptions. 

Perception psychology according to Gibson

James J. Gibson is another American psychologist who studied perception psychology. Gibson is known for his philosophy of the direct theory of visual perception in particular, also called the “bottom-up” theory. He believed we can explain visual perception solely in terms of the environment, beginning with a sensory stimulus. In each stage of the perceptual process, the eyes send signals to the brain to continue analyzing until it can conclude what the person is seeing.

Gibson theorized that the starting point of visual perception begins with the pattern of light that reaches our eyes. These signals then form the basis of our understanding of perceptions because they convey unambiguous information about the spatial layout we perceive. He further defined perception according to what he called affordances. He identified six affordances of perception, including:

• Optical array: the patterns of light that travel from the environment to the eyes
• Relative brightness: the perception that brighter, more evident objects are closer than darker, out-of-focus objects
• Texture gradient: The grain of texture becomes less defined as an object recedes, indicating that the object may be further in the distance.
• Relative size: Objects that are farther away will appear smaller.
• Superimposition: When one image partially blocks another, the viewer sees the first image as being closer to them. Superimposition is similar to inattentional blindness, in which the eye cannot see an object because another object fully engages it.
• Height in the visual field: Objects that are further away from the viewer typically appear higher in the visual field.

Perception psychology according to Gregory

Richard Langton Gregory was a British psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Bristol. Gregory was also the author of the constructivist theory of perception, or the "top-down" theory—which takes the opposite approach of Gibson’s “bottom-up” theory. It assumes that our cognitive processes—including memory and perception—result from our continuously generating hypotheses about the world from the top down. In other words, we recognize patterns by understanding the context in which we perceive them. 

Consider handwriting as an example. The handwriting of many individuals can be difficult for others to read; however, if we can pick out a few words here or there, it helps us understand the text’s context, and that helps us figure out the words we could not read. In other words, Gregory's theory assumes we have previous knowledge of what we are perceiving in addition to the stimulus itself. Because stimuli can often be ambiguous, correctly perceiving it requires a higher level of cognition because we must draw from stored knowledge or past experiences to help us understand our perceptions. He believed perception is based on our accumulated knowledge, and that we actively construct perceptions whether they’re correct or not—though an incorrect hypothesis can lead to errors in perception.

Exploring perception with a therapist

The way we perceive objects, individuals, events, and our environment can have a significant impact on our mood, emotions, and behaviors. In some cases, our perceptions can be distorted, which can lead to distressing feelings or even symptoms of a mental health condition like depression or anxiety. Talk therapy—cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in particular—is one way to learn how to recognize any cognitive distortions you may be experiencing and shift your thoughts in a more realistic, balanced, and healthy direction. 

Regularly attending in-person therapy sessions is not possible for everyone. Some may not have adequate provider options in their area, while others may have trouble commuting to and from in-office sessions. In cases like these, online therapy can represent a viable alternative. A platform like BetterHelp can match you with a licensed therapist who you can meet with via video, phone, and/or in-app messaging, all from the comfort of home. Research suggests that virtual therapy is “no less efficacious” than the in-person variety in many cases, so you can generally feel confident in selecting whichever format may work best for you.