17 curiosities about human perception

Human perception is something that has been studied over many centuries, without finding a unequivocal answer of how human beings interpret the world from the physical reality that around us.

In this article we will see a few curiosities about human perception, in addition to some interesting facts about how it originates in our mind and also psychological currents that tried to explain it.

• Related article: "The 7 types of sensations, and what information they capture"

Curiosities about human perception

These are some curious facts about our way of perceiving things.

1. Perception is within our mind

Throughout history, it has been discussed whether what human beings see the world the way it really is, having several views on the matter. Today we know that reality and the way we perceive it do not coincide.

There is, outside of our body, a material reality, but the way we receive it with our senses and process, generating ideas and concepts associated with it, it is something very variable from person to person. person.

That is, and although it may seem surprising, neither the flavors, nor the smells, nor the tactile sensations, nor the images nor sounds exist by themselves. They are the way we interpret things with different nature and physicochemical properties.

2. Perception has its limits

Related to the previous point, human beings cannot know reality completely through their senses.

An example of this is with sight, which has a spectrum of sensitivity and, at the brain level, we give each wavelength a certain color.

But this spectrum is limited, since human beings cannot perceive ultraviolet rays or infrared rays, making it impossible for us to capture these types of realities.

3. Difference between perception and sensation

Contrary to what many people believe, sensation and perception are not synonymous words. There are also people who rotate their meanings, referring to the sensation with the definition of perception and vice versa.

The sensation is, basically, registering a physical stimulus through the senses. For example, that a ray of a certain wavelength reaches the ocular retina and is captured would fall within this concept.

On the other hand, Perception is referred to when, at the brain level, it is given an interpretation to this type of stimuli captured in the sensation.

In the previous case, it would be to transform the wavelength into a certain color. Color is something that doesn't really exist in nature.

4. Phases of perception

For perception to occur, it is necessary that four phases occur:

• Detection: a stimulus affects a sensory organ.
• Transduction: the external stimulus is transformed into a sensory impression.
• Prosecution: sensory information arrives in the form of a nerve impulse to the brain, where it is encoded and structured.
• Perception in itself: the encodings are recognized and configure the mind, also attributing emotions to the stimulus originally received.

5. What did the Gestalt think of perception?

According to the Gestalt psychological stream, the human mind has the ability to perceive different aspects as a complete entity. That is, the combination of different elements gives more than the sum of those parts.

The sensation would be to receive those parts separately, without giving them any kind of value related to each other. Instead, with perception the meaning of these elements would be obtained as a set.

In the following points we very briefly describe some laws attributed to Gestalt that try to explain human perception.

6. Proximity principle

We tend to perceive things that are close to each other as a group automatically.

• You may be interested: "The 11 parts of the eye and their functions"

7. Similarity principle

Elements that resemble each other are perceived as part of the same unit.

8. Figure-ground principle

You cannot perceive the same visual stimulus as background and figure at the same time. The background is everything that is not perceived in the figure.

9. Principle of continuity

If several objects are placed in a flow, orienting themselves towards a specific place or point, they will be perceived as a whole.

10. Closing principle

A figure is perceived more clearly the more closed its contour is.

11. Motion parallax

The name of parallax of movement may not sound like anything to anyone, but it is a very common perceptual phenomenon in our day.

Imagine that we are on a bus and we are on the highway. As the bus goes along its route, they pass trees and houses on the sides, but they do it in the opposite direction, giving the sensation of moving in the opposite direction.

12. Perception can be a fiction

Optical illusions are a clear example of this. Believing everything you see is a big mistake, since our senses can be wrong and, in turn, the brain misinterpret what is being perceived.

13. Vision continuity

Human beings blink. This is not a big surprise. However, we wonder how many times we do it a day? Do we keep an account? Are we aware of it?

Surely, the vast majority would answer these questions with a resounding no, however, how is it possible that the opening and closing of the eyes, that is, to stop seeing momentarily, is something that we do not notice what happens, despite the fact that happens?

A blink can last for about 300 to 400 milliseconds, which means that the visual information is interrupted for a very short period of time, but it still means that you stop receiving visual stimulation. Although sensation is interrupted, perception is not. We continue 'seeing', mentally speaking.

This is due to the fact that during blinking a neural inhibitory mechanism is activated, which decreases the awareness that they are maintained eyes closed and that, indeed, no visual information is received, thus contributing to the stability and continuity of the view.

14. Spicy perception

When we eat something spicy, that is, that has capsaicin, the brain does not interpret it as if it were a taste in itself, but as if the thermal sensors of the tongue were being activated. That is why spicy is associated with heat.

15. Smells and emotions

The main reason that smells are more easily associated with emotions is because the sensory centers The sense of smell is connected, through the olfactory nerve, directly with the most emotional part of the brain.

16. Colors affect depth perception

Cold colors are interpreted as distant, while warm colors are seen as closer. Also the most saturated colors are interpreted as closer to the observer.

17. Color can affect taste

Perception arises from the combination of several physical stimuli that are given an interpretation at the brain level, as we were saying throughout the article.

A curious fact about it is how color can influence the taste of things, a technique which It is very used in marketing.

For example, the color of the cup when serving chocolate influences the perceived taste of this drink. This sweet liquid is not interpreted in the same way if it is served in a brown cup, according to the color of the chocolate, not in a blue one, for example.

Bibliographic references:

• Schiffman, H.R. (1997). Sensory perception. Limusa, Noriega Editores. Mexico.
• Goldstein, E.B. (2006, 6th ed.). Sensation and perception. Madrid: Thompson
• Coren, S., Ward, L.M. & Enns, J.T. (2001, 5th ed.). Sensation and perception. Madrid: Macgraw-Hill