Blog # 7

Sensation refers to the processes that our sensory receptors and nervous system recieve from various things in our environment. Perception refers to interpreting the information gained from sensation in order to recognize important or meaningful objects and events.



In Chapter 6 I found Sensation and Perception to be very interesting, because it is proven that we can unconciously sense stimuli below our threshold, and without our awareness, these stimuli can influence us. For example, although we are unable to smell something, our body may still react to it, depending on if the smell is pleasant or unpleasant. This can be applied to everyday life by surrounded someone with positive, but yet subliminal, messages in hope to boost their spirits or self-confidence.
I searched for perception and read and article on Psyblog named "How do Emoticons and Capitlisation Affect Perception of Email?" This article explained that forms of communications such as e-mail, texting, or even blogging can decrease the true understanding of the writer's behavior. With increased popularity, several people use capitilisation, punctuation, italicisation, or emoticons to express and convey their emotion. When capitilisation is overused, readers tend to recieve a bold, intimidating, or even angry perception. When emoticons are used, readers often feel a friendlier vibe. This was put to the test by holding a questionaire among college students. The students were asked to fill out a personality questionaire and then read anonymous emails. Although the students' personality also affected how the emails were preceived, the majority students rated the writers that used correct capitilisation and emoticons with a higher likability and those writers that used intense capitilization with a lower likability.
This is interesting because although forms of communication have changed radically in the last couplde decades, people continue to find ways to justify for what is lost by the lack of nonverbal communication. The study also proves that although the way in which a writer punctuates a message may alter the vibe, everyone precieves the message differently. This can easily be applied to everyday life because these forms of communication are an everyday thing. There will always be some confusion when trying to convey a message.