SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

Sensation

In general, it is necessary that our brain should recognize and interpret what has been happening around us in the environment where we live. It would allow us to experience and feel the surroundings around us. Sensation is the process that allows our brain to take in information from the environment through our sensory system, which can then be experienced and interpreted by the brain. It is the first step in the acquisition of knowledge in a conscious mind.

Sensation is defined as the "process by which sense organs gather information about the environment and transmit it to the brain for initial processing" – Kowalski & Western (2009). Sensation occurs through our sense organs.

Stimuli	Sense Organ(s)	Sensation	Sense
Visual Stimuli	Eyes	Aural/Visual sensation	Seeing
Auditory Stimuli	Ears	Auditory sensation	Hearing
Fragrance/odor Stimuli	Nose	Olfactory sensation	Smelling
Taste Stimuli	Tongue	Gustatory sensation	Tasting
Tactile Stimuli	Skin	Tactile sensation	Feeling or touch

In the learning process, the stimuli given through the sense organs would be interpreted in the brain to perceive or realize the information. Hence, the sense organs are the receptors of external stimuli. These sense receptors have specialized cells that respond to environmental stimuli into neural impulses that can be understood by the brain, a process known as transduction. This is the reason for the effectiveness of instructional processes in the classroom through the sensory learning style.

Perception

As we know about sensation, now it would be possible for us to relate sensation and perception as two complementary processes playing different roles to enable us to interpret our world. Perception is the way we interpret the sensations and make sense of everything around us.

The knowledge or information that we get from our sensory system makes us aware of a particular object or information. The process of getting aware or giving meaning to that object or information is known as 'Perception'.

Simply put, the process of detecting a stimulus and assigning meaning to it is called 'perception'. This meaning is constructed based on both physical representations from the environment and our existing knowledge.

For example, the sound we hear from a distance could be sensed as a sound made by a speeding bus, not a motorbike. The sound would be sensed by auditory sensation, but interpreted as the sound made by a bus. This interpretation is our perception. We should also know that this perception could be made only if we had experienced the same sensation before and retained it in our memory.

Perception - Definition:

"Perception is the process of getting to know objects and objective facts by the use of the senses" – R.S. Woodworth and D.G. Marquis (1949).

"Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment" – Stephen P. Robbins (2010).

Perception - Characteristics:

• Perception is a meaningful interpretation of received stimuli through sensation.
• It is objective and needs retention of past experiences.
• It involves the selection of particular stimuli received through sensation.
• It lasts as long as the sensory stimulus is present and creates an experience.
• Analysis and synthesis of sensory stimuli take place in the process of perception.