Selection is the first stage in the process of perception, which occurs when the senses receive and attend to certain stimuli over others. It is impossible for the brain to absorb all of the stimuli it is presented with, thus when information is received the mind unconsciously responds to what is familiar to the individual 's environment (Boundless, 2016.) Perception is influenced by our personal motives, incentives, impulses or drives. (Boundless, 2016) Before the brain can categorize or interpret incoming information it will meaningfully extract data from a situation that ignites a sense of familiarity or that has a high intensity (Boundless, 2016.) Overall, an individual 's brain deliberately selects what they want to perceive, based on
…show more content…
McCallum addresses how individuals can successfully interact in complex environments when the perceptual resources for sensing the environment are limited. Individuals are often subject to two limitations in this case, where they are either provided with too much information, resulting in selective perception as their senses can only focus on specific features. Or in contrast the individual may have too little sensory data, due to a “hidden state” where one must revert to using short term memory to perceive the data they are interpreting. McCallum uses an example to explain the perceptual challenges of having either too much or too little sensory data. Imagine driving in city traffic, he explains, the driver is processing stimuli from the colour of the traffic light, pedestrians on the crosswalk, distance of the car ahead to the type of clouds in the sky. This is where selective exposure comes in, the driver is exposed to all of the elements relevant to his environment. However the driver 's senses would be overloaded if he were to attend to all these features. It is important that the driver selects the features that are pertinent to his specific function, in this case making sure he is …show more content…
A stimulus is defined as a thing or event that elicits an automatic reaction in an organism (Wood, n.d). With the help of our sensory organs, we become aware and identify to existing stimuli. External stimuli have the important role of drawing our attention to certain information in the environment (Boundless, 2016). The degree of intensity of a stimulus, such as, bright lights, loud sounds, strong odors and hot surfaces, often attract our attention (Brignall, 2015). High intensity stimuli are more likely to signify potential danger and elicit a response (Russell et al., 2013). We attend to subsets of elements of the intensive stimuli and decide whether or not the information in the environment is relevant to us. We are more likely to attend to stimuli that are extremely relevant or foreseen as dangerous (Powell et al., 2013). For example, if we hear a loud, unusual noise in the middle of the night, odds are we would look around to see where it came from to ensure safety. Furthermore, a sudden change, contrast or movement in stimuli will also catch our attention. In particular, repetitive stimuli often draw our attention. Flashing lights, ringing telephone, whirring siren, and chiming doorbell are some examples of stimuli we often attend to (Brignall, 2015). Size will also have an impact on selective perception. Kshitij Anand (2012) states that “the size of the object or stimulus
McCallum addresses how individuals can successfully interact in complex environments when the perceptual resources for sensing the environment are limited. Individuals are often subject to two limitations in this case, where they are either provided with too much information, resulting in selective perception as their senses can only focus on specific features. Or in contrast the individual may have too little sensory data, due to a “hidden state” where one must revert to using short term memory to perceive the data they are interpreting. McCallum uses an example to explain the perceptual challenges of having either too much or too little sensory data. Imagine driving in city traffic, he explains, the driver is processing stimuli from the colour of the traffic light, pedestrians on the crosswalk, distance of the car ahead to the type of clouds in the sky. This is where selective exposure comes in, the driver is exposed to all of the elements relevant to his environment. However the driver 's senses would be overloaded if he were to attend to all these features. It is important that the driver selects the features that are pertinent to his specific function, in this case making sure he is …show more content…
A stimulus is defined as a thing or event that elicits an automatic reaction in an organism (Wood, n.d). With the help of our sensory organs, we become aware and identify to existing stimuli. External stimuli have the important role of drawing our attention to certain information in the environment (Boundless, 2016). The degree of intensity of a stimulus, such as, bright lights, loud sounds, strong odors and hot surfaces, often attract our attention (Brignall, 2015). High intensity stimuli are more likely to signify potential danger and elicit a response (Russell et al., 2013). We attend to subsets of elements of the intensive stimuli and decide whether or not the information in the environment is relevant to us. We are more likely to attend to stimuli that are extremely relevant or foreseen as dangerous (Powell et al., 2013). For example, if we hear a loud, unusual noise in the middle of the night, odds are we would look around to see where it came from to ensure safety. Furthermore, a sudden change, contrast or movement in stimuli will also catch our attention. In particular, repetitive stimuli often draw our attention. Flashing lights, ringing telephone, whirring siren, and chiming doorbell are some examples of stimuli we often attend to (Brignall, 2015). Size will also have an impact on selective perception. Kshitij Anand (2012) states that “the size of the object or stimulus