The 8 Types Of Human Perception (and How They Work)
A very important vital process for our survival and adaptation to the environment in which we live is perception, since it allows us to perceive different types of information about the environment and thus we can process it in our brain giving a series of adaptive responses depending on each situation.
There are different types of perfection according to psychology: auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, social, spatial, pain perception, among others. On the other hand, in order for a perceptual process to occur, there must be 3 components: a stimulus to be perceived, the development of a perceptual process and the perceptual experience.
In this article we will see what are the different types of human perception and its functions and characteristics.
Perception is the way in which our brain makes an interpretation of those sensations that we perceive through our senses in order to form an impression of the physical environment around us, which may be conscious or unconscious. Therefore, this process allows us to organize, interpret and also identify all that sensory information perceived in order to understand the data about the environment that surrounds us.
The process through which the different types of perception occur is developed through a series of phases, which we will see below.
1. Transduction
This first phase is about a process of transformation of that energy that comes from the environment converting it into electrical energy through sensory receptors.
2. Neural processing
Once the energy from the environment has been transformed into electrical energy through these sensitive receptors, said energy is already can continue its course through the nervous system, so the sensory receptors will send that signal to the brain neurons. Therefore, neural processing tries to propagate the electrical signal through certain highly complex pathways, which would be the set of operations that make this communication possible.
This phase generates the conscious experience formed through all that information that reaches the brain through the sensory organs so neural processing reaches those areas of the brain that are intended to fulfill such functions, which is when it is transformed into perceptual experience.
4. Recognition
This perceptual experience is compared, thanks to the brain’s memory, with some categories already existing in the system, so that recognition can be developed thanks to the establishment of a relationship between the new information perceived with categories already acquired in knowledge previously. Thus, the new stimuli perceived manage to acquire meaning.
5. Action
Here a series of motor adjustments in order to complete the new information received These adjustments are some different actions, such as making a movement of the head in order to be able to adjust the gaze towards some point or direction so that the person can move around the environment.
6. Knowledge
Knowledge previously acquired and stored in memory can decisively influence perception since it allows people to have knowledge about various stimuli in the environment around them, so when they perceive it, if they are known, they immediately realize it.
7. Processing
There can be two types of processing On the one hand, there is bottom-up processing, which consists of following the path that runs from the presentation of a stimulus to its processing at a central level. On the other hand, there is top-down processing, which occurs when a person begins the analysis with the central elements (e.g., memory or learning) that influence perception and, therefore, transform the experience.
The different types of human perception
Now that we have briefly seen what perception and the perceptual process consist of, we are going to proceed to explain the different types of perception.
As we had mentioned previously, there are different types of perception (for example, visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, social, etc.), any of these types being quite complex, since they involve several parts of the human body, the perception being extremely important. participation of the brain and mind, since it is not enough to perceive the tangible or material aspect of reality, but it must also be internalized in order to be able to understand it, giving some meaning to all that information captured through the senses.
Next, we will see a brief explanation of the different types of perception that the field of psychology takes into consideration.
1. Visual perception
The first of the types of perception that we are going to talk about is visual perception, which allows us to form all that reality that we can contemplate the sensory organs that form the sense of sight This perception involves the colors, the movements of some perceived stimuli, the shapes, the sizes, etc., which allow the perceived visual information to be interpreted in more detail.
2. Auditory perception
The second type of perception that should be mentioned is auditory perception, developed through the ear or the auditory system that allows us to hear certain sounds or noises when they are captured and interpreted in our brain. the changes in vibrations that develop in the environment This is one of the most important types of perception when trying to recognize the presence of some elements that may be around us.
3. Olfactory perception
Another type of perception is that developed through the sense of smell, olfactory perception. It allows us to perceive the smells and aromas that are around us, or also a stench (very unpleasant smell).
In the field of psychology, various investigations have been carried out that have shown that experiences that are loaded with odors are more easily remembered when we perceive a similar smell again later, since olfactory perception allows us to obtain certain information about the environment that is present. relate to certain aromas and certain memories, both positive and negative.
Related article: “Olfactory system: reception, transduction and brain pathways”
4. Tactile perception
Tactile perception is another of the main types of perception, and it is that which allows us to perceive through the skin, and mainly through the hands, involved in the process is the contact of the skin with some surface. It should be noted that it is a type of perception that can trigger rejection or an unpleasant sensation, depending on the experience perceived through touch.
Gustatory perception is also one of the types of perception; taste buds allow us to develop this sensory process when we put food in our mouth, so that we perceive its flavor and can feel different sensations that could be pleasant or unpleasant depending on how we perceive what we are tasting through our taste buds. When we perceive a taste that is unpleasant to us, we will reject that food on future occasions when it is presented to us, since it will arouse repulsion in us.
6. Spatial perception
Another type of perception would be spatial perception, considered by many experts as a subtype of visual perception; However, it differs from this, being the ability that people have to capture objects and shapes in the environment in their three dimensions This perception is also a capacity that allows us to calculate the depth, distance and height of the stimuli we perceive.
7. Social perception
We can also find social perception among the different types of perception, being also known as social cognition, and is related to the way people tend to view those around them forming impressions and inferences about other people, thus allowing them to associate, remember and categorize the people in their environment.
8. Pain perception
The perception of pain would be another type of perception and refers to that which has several dimensions (quality, affect, duration, intensity and location), which makes it a rather complex type of perception. The pain perception process It is triggered when painful messages emerge from the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and are transmitted to the central nervous system (SNC) where they are interpreted based on various dimensions such as those just mentioned.
