Our past experience, goals and motives of activity play one of the main roles in the perception of the world, its objects and phenomena.
Concept history
The very concept of “apperception” was introduced by the psychologist G. Leibniz. D.S. Bruner coined the term social apperception. This is the
perception of social groups, peoples, races, individuals. The psychologist drew attention to the subjectivity of the acceptance of surrounding people, in contrast to objects and phenomena. The philosopher
Immanuel Kant raised the question of the transcendental unity of apperception, the essence of which is that self-awareness cannot be separated from environmental awareness.
Alfred Adler believed that apperception is a lifestyle developed by man. On this basis, the psychologist developed a scheme, presenting this term as one of the main links in perception. I.F. Herbart apperception transferred to pedagogy, calling it the awareness of the subjects of the material under the influence of previous knowledge and experience. Wilhelm Wundt introduced this term as a special internal psychic force that determines human behavior.
Perception and apperception
Apperception is one of the important mental properties of a person whose action is the conditional perception of objects and phenomena in the world, depending on his views, interests and experience. As for perception, this concept includes the reception and transformation of sensory information, with the help of which a subjective image of an object is formed. The concept explains the understanding of oneself and of another person, and on this basis the establishment of interaction and mutual understanding. These two terms were shared by the famous scientist G. Leibniz. The psychologist has shown that apperception is the main condition for self-awareness. And he added memory and attention to the concept. Thus, apperception is a combination of the main mental processes.
Physiology of perception
The objects of the surrounding world have the ability to influence human
analyzers. In order for information to degenerate into a holistic image, complex neural connections are involved. Understanding of perception is carried out in the secondary cortical fields. The interconnection of all analyzers makes it possible during the work of only one of them to collect the entire image of the subject as a whole. For example, when we see a stone, we feel its hardness, cold, smooth or rough surface, although we did not even touch it. An important part of the activity of perception is movement. So, if you stop your eyes with a special device, then the person will stop seeing the object. The ability to name an object, that is, to use speech, makes it possible to call up images and easily recognize them. Thus, apperception is the relationship of perception and previously acquired knowledge, experience, interests and attitudes of a person.
Features
Perception has certain properties. They can be designated as meaningfulness, constancy and objectivity. The first property is the different perceptions by different people of the same subject. The reason for this phenomenon is that each person has his own accumulated experience on which he relies. The second - despite the changing conditions, the perception of the properties of the subject remains relatively independent. The third property indicates that people relate all the impressions of the world to various objects and phenomena (blue sky, the sound of a human voice, and so on). With objectivity, meaningfulness is associated. The past experiences, knowledge are always mixed with the new impressions received, on the basis of which a person recognizes the subject.
Perception in psychology
In addition to combining sensations into some integral image that a person recognizes, his understanding and comprehension take place. All actions are carried out thanks to past knowledge. Thus, we can distinguish the special properties of consciousness:
- Categorization. Any subject is perceived as a member of a generalized class. The specific properties of the group are transferred to the object itself.
- Verbal mediation. Due to this property there is an abstraction and generalization of the individual properties of objects.
- The influence of attitudes. We can say that this is an almost unconscious ability to feel, react and perceive as experience and motives suggest.
- Subjectivity. Depending on their individual factors, different people perceive the same subject in different ways.
- Apperception. The perception of any content is determined by past impressions and knowledge.
One of the founders of Gestalt psychology, M. Wertheimer, derived six laws of perception. These include:
- The effect of proximity (combining nearby figures).
- The effect of similarity (objects similar in color, shape and so on are grouped).
- The factor of "common fate" (objects are combined according to the changes that occur in them).
- Closure factor (better perception of figures that are closed).
- Grouping factor without a trace (a number of objects are tried to be grouped so that there are no separate figures).
- The “good continuation” factor (the choice of a less curved line from two intersecting or touching).
Psyche of personality
The concept of “psyche” refers to the ability of subjects to reflect the objects of the world around them, to build a picture of reality and to regulate their behavior and activities on its basis. The main properties of the psyche can be distinguished in the following conclusions:
1. The psyche is a property of living, highly organized matter.
2. The psyche is able to perceive information about the world and give birth to the image of material objects.
3. Based on the information received from the outside, the regulation of the internal environment of the personality takes place and its behavior is formed.
The most common research methods of perception in psychology are tests. Basically, these are representatives of two types - symbol apperception and thematic apperception.
The first test consists of 24 cards with characters taken from fairy tales and myths. The subject groups the cards at his convenience. The next stage of the study is the proposal to supplement the characters with another missing one. Then again a grouping takes place, but into well-known categories: “love”, “game”, “power”, “knowledge”. The subject must explain the principle of his systematization and the meaning of the characters. The result will be the identification of the priorities and value orientation of the person.
The second test is presented as a set of tables with black and white photographs, which are selected taking into account the age and gender of the subjects. The test subject's task is to compose a plot story based on each picture. This technique is used in cases of psychotherapeutic and differential diagnosis in the selection of candidates for important posts.
Test for the study of children
The children's apperception test was created by L. Bellak and S.S. Bellak. A study on this technique is conducted with children aged 3 to 10 years. Its essence is the demonstration of various pictures, which depict animals engaged in various activities. The child is invited to tell a story based on pictures (what animals are doing, what happens on the image, and so on). After the description, the psychologist proceeds to clarifying questions. It is important to show the pictures in a certain sequence, in the order of their numbering.
This technique makes it possible to identify the following parameters:
- Leading motives and needs.
- Relations with relatives (brothers, sisters, parents).
- Intrapersonal conflicts.
- Features of protective mechanisms.
- Fears, phobias, fantasies.
- Behavior among peers.
Taking as a basis the concept of “apperception” (this is a conscious, meaningful, thoughtful perception of reality based on past experience), it is important to correct the influence of the knowledge gained by the child in time, so that in the future he will have the correct concepts about the objects of the world.