Perception and Learning

Perception and Learning

Learning and Perception are intertwined . They are relatively connected with each other

When we say Learning , it is a term used referring to a relatively permanent change in behavior that is a result of past experience or practice . It includes classical conditioning , operant conditioning , and perceptual learning . While Perception on the other hand , is a general term referring to the awareness of objects , qualities , or events stimulating the sense organs it also refers to a person 's experience of the world . So when one perceives something through his

environment , he then learns it and somehow puts it into practice (Hulse , Deese Egeth 1975

The brain has a strong tendency to organize various stimuli into objects which are seen as figures on grounds . Stability in our world is provided by our various perceptual constancies . Like in death , we perceive death because we make us of several monocular and binocular cues . These general principles help us to understand how perception works . The organisms or individual 's stage of development affects or influences the things he perceives through the things he learned

Just about everything we learn is partly a learning of new perceptions And our previous learning affects our present perceptions , especially when the learning has been emotional or unusually meaningful (Hochberg 1964 ,

. 287

. A gun maybe perceived quite differently by a woman whose husband has been killed in a hunting accident and by a child who is fascinated with cowboys . To the child the gun is a toy associated with pleasurable excitement , with fantasies of range wars and of galloping horses . To bereaved wife the gun is a deadly weapon associated with sadness and fear

For example , a young woman who fell in love and was broken hearted already has learned a lesson not to give everything the next time her heart beats again . Another example is , a baby who tries to learn to walk tries his very best to know how to balance , even though he experiences fall sometimes he still tries his best to do it and learn how to walk So before it we can call it learning from their mistakes , the change must be relatively permanent it must last a fairly long time . These rules out changes in behavior due to motivation , fatigue , adaptation , or sensitivity of the organism

Learning contributes much to perception , but it is only one ingredient Many factors both learned and unlearned , affect what the person actually does . Even so , an individual 's performance is all that we can measure We must infer , by appropriate control or knowledge of the conditions affecting perception , when perception has been changed through learning and when it has been changed by other factors (King , 1971 ,

. 79-80

Moreover , learned and unlearned factors interact in complex ways . For example , many kinds of behavior depend on perception . When a student has learned that he should study for him to succeed then he will likely do it because he believes which is his perception , meaning he is aware of that when finishes his studies that individual will succeed References

Hulse , S . H , Deese , J , and Egeth , H . The Psychology of Learning (4th Ed ) New York : McGraw-Hill , 1975

King , R . A (Ed ) Readings for an introduction to Psychology (3d Ed New York : McGraw-Hill , 1971

Hochberg , J . E . Perception . Englewood Cliffs , N . J : Prentice- Hall 1964

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