Blog #7...

Sensation refers to the processes (see, hear, feel, smell, and taste) that our sensory receptors and nervous system recieve from various things in our environment. Perception refers to organizing and interpreting the information gained from sensation in order to recognize important or meaningful objects and events.

The thing I found most fascinating in Chapter 6: Sensation and Perception was subliminal stimulation. I find this interesting because it is proven that we can unconciously sense stimuli below our threshold, and in turn, without our awareness, these stimuli can influence us, creating suggestive powers. For example, although we are unable to smell something, our body may still react to it, depending if the smell is pleasant or unfavorable. This really creates a lot of concerns for me. Now that I am aware of this information, I wonder the millions of things that are going on around me that I am unaware of, although my body continues to react to them. This almost makes me feel as if I hold less control over my own body. 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 think this could be a positive for of therapy if persued.

After searching perception, I read and article on Psyblog entitled "How do Emoticons and Capitlisation Affect Perception of Email?." The article explained that forms of communications such as e-mail, text messaging, or even blogging (haha) obviously 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 decade or two, 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 constructs or punctuates a message may alter the vibe, all humans will precieve the message slightly different. This can easily be applied to everyday life merely because these forms of communication have become so promident. While keeping these studies in mind, a writer can alleviate some confusion when trying to convey a message.