The Psychology Student and the Imperfect Lens
Alison Heinhold Melley and Anna Sofia Caruso
The beginning of human knowledge is through the senses, and the fiction writer begins where human perception begins. – Flannery O’Connor
College As Education of your Senses
The college curriculum is designed to help you develop different perspectives with which you can understand and appreciate your life. You might take a course in art, music, or both. Such courses might be considered “education of the senses.” The fact that even bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers produce art and music suggest that there is something about our genetics which makes such activities intrinsically rewarding. Certainly, a developed appreciation of the different forms of human creativity enhances and enriches our lives.
College courses in art and music expose students to classic and current forms of human creativity. In the same way that reading requires constructing larger and larger “gestalts” (i.e., letters, words, phrases, sentences, etc.), the same can be true for art (lines, shapes, forms, patterns, etc.) and music (e.g., tones, chords, melodies, etc.). Your eyes and ears can be “trained” to detect elements and patterns of visual and auditory sensations. Courses in art and music analyze (i.e., determine the common elements of “good” art and music) and synthesize (i.e., relate different examples of art and art forms to each other) the creative and performing arts. In this way, such courses convey our current understanding of those defining human qualities which do not at first glance appear related to eating and surviving but rather to “What’s it all about?”
Links to Learning
Elements of Design: Watch this video describing the fundamental elements of design:
Music: Watch this video describing how to appreciate the five fundamental elements of music:
There is a saying that you get out of life what you put into it. The amount of time and effort you dedicate to any activity will influence how proficient you become. This applies to your schoolwork and grades, but the college experience provides other possibilities for developing your potential. There are usually many extra-curricular activities available for you to sustain existing hobbies and interests and explore new ones. Consider the knowledge, skills, and attitudes you would like to acquire in your immediate and long term future, and seek out opportunities that might support that skill development.
The psychology research literature can also play a valuable role in your skill development. One of the skills a professional in any field must possess is the ability to locate and evaluate research. We live in a time in which we are inundated with information from the media and the internet. Reviewing the literature can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. Even when you think you have located relevant information, how can you be certain you can trust the source? Fortunately, most professions attempt to facilitate this process by developing peer-evaluated databases. The American Psychological Association produces PsycINFO, which lists and abstracts peer-reviewed articles dating from the 1800s. In addition to psychology research, PsycINFO covers related fields such as medicine, neuroscience, and social work. Most college libraries will have a subscription to this extremely helpful and credible database.
Related to sensation and perception, colleges and universities frequently have clubs or activities dedicated to art, music, food and/or wine tasting, dance and sports or other movement-related activities. There are often offices or campus units where you can obtain paid or voluntary positions requiring specialized applications of your senses. This would certainly be true if you worked as an artist for a campus newspaper or as a DJ for a college radio station. There is an old saying that there are three types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who ask, “What happened?” In the same way that it is important to be an active student by trying to anticipate and answer questions based upon your course material, it is important to be active in your personal development during your college years. Try to explore your college environment, searching for growth opportunities. Try out and join interesting clubs. Attend special lectures and events. Make things happen!
Things do not happen. Things are made to happen. – John F Kennedy
Educate your Senses
As an example of how the psychology research literature can assist you in achieving your personal objectives, an experiment was conducted to compare two different approaches to learning to play the piano. It was found that practicing with both hands at the same time was better and more efficient than practicing with one hand at a time.[31] Since we now know that our brain predicts and interprets our senses and we have some control over those interpretations, you might even be able to practice re-categorizing your senses. For example, if you feel nervous or anxious and that sometimes prevents you from trying something new. If instead you can try to see those “butterflies” as determination (a brilliant sensei once said “put your butterflies into a formation,” you might be able to use those nerves to help you open up your world.
Another way of approaching your learning might be to practice taking the perspective of the other. Since you now know we cannot have exactly the same perspective as anyone else – literally and figuratively – can you find ways to learn about other ways of perceiving the world? How might cultivating a sense of wonder and curiosity help you?
In conclusion, our sensory systems play a crucial role in providing us with information about the world around us. Sensation involves the process of converting external stimuli into neural energy and transmitting it to the brain, while perception refers to the interpretation and conscious experience of sensory information. Our perception is influenced by factors such as attention, motivation, experience, biases, and culture. Studying sensation and perception provides insights into the mechanisms of sensory processing and how they shape our experiences. This knowledge is crucial for fields such as psychology, neuroscience, medicine, and design, enabling us to improve human well-being, create effective interventions, and design environments that optimize sensory experiences.
questions
- Describe a situation where you encountered physical pain and consider how your perception of pain was influenced by factors such as your emotional state, expectations, and the context in which the pain occurred. What helped to get you through the pain?
- Think about a time when you use one sense by itself and other times where you needed to use more than one sense at a time to do something successfully.
- Imagine you are designing a product packaging for a food item. How can you utilize principles of sensory perception, such as color, texture, and visual cues, to create packaging that not only captures attention but also enhances consumers’ perception of the product?
- How does our perception of the world differ from objective reality? Discuss the role of sensation and perception in shaping our subjective experience.
- How do cultural factors influence our perception of sensory stimuli? Give examples of how cultural norms and values can shape our interpretation of sensory information.
- Reflect on the role of illusions in studying sensation and perception. Why do illusions occur, and what do they reveal about the workings of our sensory and perceptual systems? How can illusions help us understand the limitations and biases of our perceptions?
- Reflect on the ways in which our perception of sensory stimuli can be influenced by psychological factors such as emotions, motivations, and past experiences. How might our subjective states shape our interpretation and response to sensory information?
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[2] (Masuda & Nisbett, 2006)
[3] (Marshall et al., 1963)
[4] (Segall et al., 1966)
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[9] (Lee & Penrod, 2022)
[10] (McKone et al. 2019)
[11](Swets, 1964)
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[14] (Plassman et al., 2008)
[15] (Wang & Chang, 2022)
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[17] (Pascalis et al., 2020)
[18] (Cisneros-Franco et al., 2020; Pascalis et al., 2020).
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[21] Kidd, D. C., & Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science, 342(6156), 377-380.
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[23] (Rock & Palmer, 1990)
[24] (Peterson & Gibson, 1994; Vecera & O’Reilly, 1998).
[25] Michael Britt. “Gestalt Principles of Perception – with Examples.” YouTube, 11 Sept. 2013, openstax.org/l/gestalt. Accessed 1 Aug. 2024.
[27]“Jennifer Eberhardt.” Stanford.edu, 2024, www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/270_x_270/public/faculty/photo/photo-faculty-eberhardt-jennifer.jpeg.webp?itok=DF5zmrWH. Accessed 1 Aug. 2024.[28] “Center for Policing Equity – Dr. Phillip Atiba Solomon (F.k.a. Goff).” Policingequity.org, policingequity.org/about/team/executive-leadership/staff/dr-phillip-atiba-goff. Accessed 1 Aug. 2024.
[30]Luscombe, Belinda. “How Police Departments Should Be Approaching Reform.” Time, 8 June 2020, time.com/5849172/police-racial-bias/.
