Basic classifications of perception (classification by modality, by the form of existence of matter).

Classification of perception by types of analyzers

According to the types of main analyzers, the following main types of perception are distinguished:

• kinesthetic,
• visual,
• tactile,
• olfactory,
• auditory,
• taste.

The process of perception is realized through analyzers that closely interact with each other. For example, tactile perception, which involves kinesthetic and tactile analyzers. In the process of visual perception, in which the visual analyzer plays a leading role, the participation of the motor one is required to carry out eye movements. In auditory perception, the auditory analyzer is the main one, but the kinesthetic analyzer is of great importance. Different types of perception are rarely present in their pure form; more often they are combined with each other.

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Division by nature of activity

Considering the main classifications of perception, this division option cannot be left without due attention. It is assumed to distinguish between unintentional (involuntary) and intentional (voluntary) perception.

The first type is not associated with any goal; it acts as a component of another activity.

Voluntary perception is considered the highest mental function, which is inherent only to humans. It presupposes a clear statement of goals and objectives, is systematic and planned, and acts as a cognitive perceptual activity (observation).

Classification of perception according to forms of matter

According to the forms of representation of matter, the following types of perception are distinguished:

• time perception;
• perception of space;
• perception of movement.

Perception of space

Definition 1

In the mutual action of a person with the surrounding world, the perception of space is one of the mandatory conditions for the possibility of orientation in a given environment. In the perception of space, a distinction is made between the perception of distance, shape, size and volume of objects.

The interaction of an individual with the surrounding world includes the human body itself with its inherent coordinate system. A person who feels the world is himself a material body, occupying a certain place in space and, accordingly, endowed with spatial characteristics: body size, size, shape, direction of movement in space.

It has been scientifically proven that the basis of forms of spatial perception is the functioning of a complex of analyzers interacting with each other. A special role in spatial orientation belongs to the motor analyzer, with the help of which this interaction is directly established. Special mechanisms of orientation in space include neural connections between the left and right hemispheres in analytical activity: binaural hearing, binocular vision, bimanual touch and others. In reflecting the qualities of objects of a spatial nature, an important factor is the functional asymmetry characteristic of paired analyzers. Functional asymmetry is expressed in the fact that one side of the analyzer is dominant, i.e. leading.

Basic approaches to the study of perception

In psychology, there are two main approaches to the study of perception: object-oriented and subject-oriented. Let's look at several theories in each of them.

Object-oriented approach

Let's consider two theories within this approach:

1. Structuralism. W. Wundt and E. Titchener believed that perception is a combination of individual images and sensations. To explain some human condition, you need to break this condition down into parts. Perception is based on two laws: summation (the total effect of sensations is equal to the effect of each sensation) and association (contrast, affectivity, similarity in content, similarity in time and space).
2. Gestalt psychology . M. Weitheimer, K. Koffka, V. Köhler believed that images can only be perceived holistically - it is unacceptable to consider the constituent elements separately or in the sum of their properties. For example, if you remove one letter from a word, most people will not notice it. And if they notice, they will still understand what the word is. That is, if a person has already perceived something once, then under similar conditions he will perceive a similar figure in exactly the same way. In this case, the figure is always perceived more clearly than the background.

Subject-centered approach

Let's consider two theories within this approach:

1. The theory of unconscious inferences by G. Helmholtz . The psychologist believed that a person does not just passively “absorb” the world, but tunes his senses for better perception. Perception itself is the result of what comes from the outside world and what is already inherent in a person. Helmholtz was the first to talk about the fact that one receptor is responsible for only one sensation. A person can experience several sensations at once only if something from the external environment has affected several receptors at once. Thus, the psychologist promoted the idea of ​​sensory perception.
2. The theory of the perceptual cycle by U. Naiserra . The psychologist was the first to talk about cognitive schema (accumulated experience in structures and stereotypes). He believed that there is already something inside a person that determines the specificity of perception. For example, if a person has often encountered irony and ridicule, then he will perceive any compliment as irony.

These are just some of the theories of perception in psychology. In fact, there are many more of them. For example, there are also such theories: categorization (D. Bruner), constructivist (J. Piazget), activity (A.N. Leontiev), ecological (D. Gibson), information (D. Marr).

Let's sum it up

Among the main properties of perception that are of interest, psychologists highlight structure, integrity, activity, meaningfulness, consistency, and objectivity. They are what characterize perception. Classification and properties make it possible to create a certain idea of ​​a person and establish connections between tactile and visual actions. To analyze the condition of a particular patient, it is important for a psychologist to first identify all types of perceptions, draw up a complete picture based on individual information, and only then give any advice.

Smell and taste

Gustatory and olfactory perceptions are much closer to sensations, that is, to elementary sensory processes, than vision and hearing, which have undergone great evolutionary changes in humans. In addition, smell and taste are so closely interconnected that we often confuse them, or rather, we endow taste with the characteristics of odors. For example, when we talk about taste diversity. There is no variety; a person is able to sense only five tastes:

• sweet,
• salty,
• sour,
• bitter,
• spicy.

By taste variety, we most often mean smells. There really are a huge number of them, because each item smells differently.

The sense of smell is always objective, that is, we perceive smells through their connection with objects: lemon smells like lemon, raspberries smell like raspberries, and asphalt heated by the sun smells like lemon. But a completely unfamiliar smell, which we don’t associate with anything, is impossible to describe. Try to explain to a person who has never been to the sea what it smells like?

Third way

Classification according to the method of perception: duration, nature involves the identification of two types:

• simultaneous;
• successive.

The first version of perception is a one-time action, unfolded in space. It is distinguished by integrity and generality. For example, at the first lecture, the teacher perceives the audience as a whole; it is difficult for him to single out each student.

Successive perception presupposes phasing; it is unfolded in time. For example, it appears when checking errors in dictation.

Peculiarities of time perception

Among the simplest forms of time estimation is the perception of duration. They are based on the “biological clock” of the human body. Such processes include the alternation of inhibition and excitation that occurs in the neurons of the cerebral cortex. Such phenomena guarantee such cyclical phases as the rhythm of breathing, heartbeat, and the appearance of hunger. People perceive the time of execution of a task when some nervous processes are carried out that ensure this activity.

Depending on the duration of inhibition and excitation, a person receives some idea of ​​time periods.

This parameter is also influenced by emotional experiences. If certain events cause a person to react positively, then the time seems too short. With negative emotions, on the contrary, the time period lengthens. Illness significantly distorts the perception of time. Due to a feeling of anxiety, constant tension, a person cannot relax for a long time; he feels a “slowdown in the passage of time.”

What is modality?

Modality is (lat. modus - mood, method, measure) - a method of action or attitude expressed towards action. Modality is a term originally used in the linguistic environment by Charles Bally and denoted a subjective assessment (modus) in relation to a dictum (presented material, text, expression). Subsequently, the concept of modality began to be used in psychology to explain the categories of the human sensory system and in philosophy - as a reflection of ways of being and phenomena. Modality is also used in such areas as:

1. Computer systems are a multi-window program interface, where one of the windows is central and the user focuses on it.
2. Music uses a modal scale from which other modes are built.
3. Sociology. In the sociological typology of people, a modal person or a modal personality is the actually predominant type in a given society.

Touch

Tactile sensations are the most ancient type of sensory sensitivity, which arose in living organisms much earlier than not only vision and hearing, but also smell. Touch is also more often referred to as sensations than to full-fledged perception; there is too much of the physiological and reflexive in it. However, the role of touch in life becomes clear in a difficult situation when a person loses his sight. Then tactile sensations become conscious and can partially compensate for the inability to see, as they provide information about the shape of objects.

The fingertips and palms have the greatest sensitivity in humans. They are connected by a huge number of nerve fibers to various parts of the brain. Therefore, we can say that the level of mental development of a person largely depends on his fingers. It’s not for nothing that child psychologists pay so much attention to the fine motor skills of children’s hands.

Theories of motion perception

They are usually divided into two groups:

• those that derive the perception of movement from the simplest, sequentially arising visual sensations of individual points through which movement occurs;
• According to the theory, it is argued that the perception of movement has a specific quality that cannot be reduced to elementary visual sensations.

Each of these points of view is of interest in psychology and is used to analyze the patient's psychomotor reactions.