Human perception is something that has been studied over many centuries, without finding an unequivocal answer to how we humans interpret the world from the physical reality around us.

In this article we are going to see a few curiosities about human perception , as well as some interesting facts about the way it originates in our mind and also psychological currents that tried to explain it.

Curiosities about human perception

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

1. Perception is within our mind

Throughout history, there has been discussion about whether what we humans see the world as it really is, with various views on this. Today we know that reality and the way we perceive it do not match.

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

That is, and although it may seem surprising, neither tastes, nor smells, nor tactile sensations, nor images or 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, the human being cannot know reality completely through his 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 colour.

But this spectrum is limited, since human beings cannot perceive ultraviolet 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. There are also people who spin their meanings, referring to sensation with the definition of perception and vice versa.

Sensation is basically the recording of 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, refers to perception when, at a cerebral level, an interpretation is given to this type of stimuli captured in the sensation.

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

4. Phases of perception

For perception to occur, four phases are necessary:

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

5. What did the Gestalt think of perception?

According to the psychological current of Gestalt, 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 feeling would be to receive those parts separately, without giving them any value related to each other. On the other hand, with the perception would be obtained the meaning of these elements as a whole .

In the following points we describe very briefly 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.

7. Principle of similarity

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

8. Principle of the figure-background

The same visual stimulus cannot be perceived as both background and figure . The background is everything that is not perceived from the figure.

9. Principle of continuity

If several objects are placed in a flow, facing 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 outline is .

11. Parallelism of movement

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

Let’s imagine we’re on a bus and we’re on the highway. As the bus goes along its route, trees and houses are passing by on the sides, but they do so in the opposite direction, giving the sensation that they are moving in the opposite direction .

12. Perception can be a fiction

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

13. Continuity of vision

We humans blink. This is not a big surprise. Yet, do we ask ourselves how many times we do it a day? Do we keep score? Are we even aware of it?

Surely, the vast majority would answer these questions with a resounding no, but how is it possible that the opening and closing of our eyes, that is, the momentary cessation of sight, is something that we do not notice happening, even though it is happening?

A blink may last about 300 to 400 milliseconds , which means that the visual information is interrupted for a very short period of time, but this also means that visual stimulation is no longer received. Although the sensation is interrupted, the perception is not. We continue to ‘see’, mentally speaking.

This is because during blinking a neural inhibitory mechanism is activated, which decreases the awareness that the eyes are being kept closed and that visual information is not being received, thus contributing to the stability and continuity of vision.

14. Perception of spiciness

When we eat something spicy, that is, something that has capsaicin in it, 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 . This is why spiciness is associated with heat.

15. Smells and Emotions

The main reason why odours are more easily associated with emotions is because the sensory centres of the sense of smell are connected, via the olfactory nerve, directly to the most emotional part of the brain.

16. Colors affect depth perception

Cold colors are interpreted as far away, while warm ones are seen as closer . Also the most saturated colours are interpreted as closer to the observer.

17. Color can affect taste

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

A curious fact about this is how colour can influence the taste of things, a technique which is very much used in marketing .

For example, the color of the cup when serving the 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, than 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