What Is the Connection Between Perception and Cognition?

Perception theory refers to the systematic selection and abstract generalization of environmental information by human beings. This perspective played an important role in forming the "newlook" of perceptual research. For a long time, people have always believed that the physical characteristics of the object (such as the size and shape of the object) and the conditions for observing the situation (such as the light and the distance of the real person from the object) are the most important determinants of human perception objects. However, the "new view" believes that when observers perceive the physical characteristics of objects, they will be affected by personal factors, and different people's perception of the same thing will be quite different.

Perception is the systematic processing, and then analyzes and processes the state of information generated by external objective factors, and finally the process of individuals obtaining information. Perception has the following characteristics: selectivity, meaning, constancy, and integrity. His original research originated from neural reflexes in biology. Later, he studied the relationship between thinking and behavior. Now it has become the content of psychological research, the premise and key of psychological counselor research.

First, perception has the properties of classification and reasoning. The so-called perception is that people selectively classify them into certain categories based on certain determined or key attributes of stimulus input; then they are inferred based on the existing knowledge of this category (this point will be described further below) . This main feature of the perceptual process is also a feature of general cognition. Bruner therefore asserts that "perceptual theory requires a mechanism that can be classified and reasoned, as cognitive theory requires" (Bruner, et al., 1956). Bruner therefore agrees with DOHebb's assertion that certain basic units or identifications of perception are inherent, endogenous, and not acquired. In fact, Piaget also believes that some basic abilities classified in a certain way depend on the existence of some more basic abilities. The category that this thing falls into, then, in the early stages of children's recognition, there must have been some of the most basic, non-learned categories. With the formation of more complex categories, classification involves the learning process, that is, how to identify, weigh and use key attributes.

Second, perception has various realities. The aforementioned children's different estimates of coin size are an example. Bruner believes that what people know and perceive is actually more or less predictable with different degrees of accuracy. In other words, when people classify an object into a certain category, they make predictions about the attributes that the object must have but have not yet realized. Here, Bruner cites the point of view of American pragmatist philosopher C. Peirce. Pierce believes that the meaning of a proposition is a hypothetical statement made by people about the attributes or results related to the proposition. Bruner infers that the meaning of a thing lies in putting it in a network of hypothetical reasoning and then making inferences about its characteristics and effects.

According to Bruner: "When we are learning perception, we are actually learning the relationship between the various characteristics of the objects and events we encounter, learning the appropriate category and category system, learning to predict and retrieve what What is in line with what ". Therefore, he believes that the process of perception involves four successive steps. ^[1]

(1) Primary Categorization; this is done before more complicated reasoning activities. At this stage, environmental events are perceptually isolated, but just notice some of its characteristics, and the events themselves have little meaning.

(2) cue search; this stage is to find those attributes that can be used to identify the event in order to classify it into a certain category more accurately. At this stage, people are open to stimulus.

(3) Confirmation check (confirmation check); the search for clues is to make further tentative classifications. After that, the situation has changed, and people's openness to stimulus has suddenly narrowed, often just searching for those that can be used to confirm the event Clues to retrieve if the original categorization is exact.

(4) Confirmation completion (confirmation completion); this is the last stage of the process of perceptual identification, which is marked by the termination of search for clues. This stage is characterized by being largely closed to other clues. Because when people think that an event has been put into a very suitable category, it is unlikely that they will respond to other clues.

It can be seen that the perception process is characterized by opening, selecting, and closing of stimulus input.

Finally, Bruner also emphasized that the accuracy of categorizing stimulus inputs depends to a large extent on perceptual readness. Perceptual readiness refers to the acceptability of a category, and acceptability is defined by the ease with which a category can encode stimulus input. The easier a category is to be accepted, the less stimulus input is required, and the wider the range of stimulus inputs to be accepted, the more likely it is that the categories that are unlikely to be accepted will be covered up.

Therefore, the acceptability of a suitable category plays an important role in the authenticity of perception. Bruner believes that two factors determine the acceptability of the category: the individual's expectations and needs. For example, we are particularly sensitive to restaurants when we need to eat something; if we expect someone to come, he will be recognized immediately. In both cases, few stimulus inputs are needed to identify people and things, but the possibility of making mistakes is also greater. That is, if the acceptability of this category is high (we are waiting for someone at the station), the other category may be covered up (no other friends who happen to be on the shuttle are found).

According to Bruner, the process of perception is the process of classifying objects. So, in a sense, perception and classification are the same thing. The reason why the theory of classification is further stated here is that Bruner has derived his most important cognitive learning perspective from the analysis of classification-beyond the information given. The basic idea of Bruner's theory of cognitive structure learning is that in order to promote the best learning for students, it is necessary to provide information; however, mastering this information is not the purpose of learning in itself, and learning should go beyond the information given. This view is derived from his classification theory. Because in his view, all cognitive activities involve the question of categories.

Bruner believes that the human world is made up of a large number of different objects, events, and characters. It is estimated that there are no less than 7 million different colors that can be distinguished. No two people look completely different. Even the same object we see varies with time and place. In his view, human beings are categorical and are not overwhelmed by the complexity of their surroundings.

When we see a man with long hair and a flower dress standing in front of us, do we only see these? Literally, yes, we are seeing these. But what we get may go far beyond the simple information given. We can infer that this man is a woman-she has two hands and two legs ... However, we cannot be aware of these directly. So we must go beyond the information given. First, we have to make a decision: this is a woman; then, we make inferences based on what we know about women. Bruner therefore believes that it is only possible to make inferences by making categories (in this case, women are categories).

The so-called category is the rule of categorizing various things equally. In Bruner's words: "Classification is to treat the same things separately, to classify the various objects, events and people around them, and to classify them according to their membership of the category rather than their uniqueness. They respond "(Bruncer, et al, 1956). Therefore, categories are tools of human cognition. Learning and using categories is one of the most basic and common forms of cognition. Humans adapt to the environment through this form of cognition. ^[2]

Bruner believes that before people can classify things in some way, they must know the properties of those things. According to the role of attributes in the classification or inference process, the attributes used as the definition of the object are called key attributes, and other attributes are irrelevant attributes: for example, the gender attribute is the key attribute of the category "woman" , And the length of hair has nothing to do with the color of clothes. So categories are rules that specify what we are reacting to. Take the "car" category as an example: (1) The category is determined based on key attributes. Key attributes of a car include body, engine, gearshift, and controls. (2) The category not only specifies the attributes of the chain, but also specifies the way in which they are grouped together. If all the parts of a car are in a mess, no one will regard it as a car. This means that they must be combined in a specified way. (3) The category should weigh various attributes. For example, a car can be classified as a car even if it does not have an oil pump, windows, or even wheels; but if it does not have an engine and body, it must be classified in another category (such as car parts or scrap iron) Yes, because the engine and body are attributes that must be possessed in the category of cars. (4) The category shall establish the recognized restrictive conditions of relevant attributes. Attributes allow differences between things, for example, the color of a car can be very different; however, a car can only have four wheels, which is a recognized limitation. Therefore, cars with three or five wheels cannot be classified as cars (Lefrancois, 1982). ^[3]

People interact with the environment based on categories or classification systems: either to use external categories to process external information, or to form new categories from external information. In either case, the final product of information processing is to make a choice about the identity of the stimulus input, or to make various inferences about the objects or events associated with the stimulus input. Bruner's argument is that all interactions people have with the world around them involve classifying stimulus inputs related to existing categories. Therefore, if stimulus inputs have nothing to do with people's existing categories, then they are difficult to process. In other words, people are less likely to perceive entirely new stimulus inputs.

In Bruner's view, not only do people process all information through classification, but all decisions involve classification. First, to confirm an object, a decision is made as to whether it belongs to a certain category. Secondly, once the object is placed in a certain category, that is, after being identified, it is necessary to make a decision on how to respond to the object based on the inherent characteristics of the category. Therefore, he believes that the so-called inquiry is actually "not a way to discover the classification of various events in the world, but a way to invent classification".