Discussion:
Sensation and Perception Worksheet: Concept of a Perceptual Set
Conduct an experiment to illustrate the concept of a perceptual set. Engage at least three subjects (family members, coworkers, or friends) in your experiment. Ask your subjects to observe a specific room and take note of everything in the room that is a particular color, for example, anything and everything that is brown. You may choose to have all subjects observe the same room at different times or have the subjects each observe different rooms. After one minute, ask your subjects to close their eyes. Once their eyes are closed, ask them to recite everything in the room that is a different color than the one they were looking for, for example, anything and everything that is green. Take note of the subjects' responses. After conducting your experiment, answer the following questions:
1. Describe the results of the experiment. What happened?
2. Explain the outcome of this experiment by identifying and describing the sensory and perceptual processes involved. Be sure to discuss perceptual set.
3. What are your thoughts about this experiment? Were you surprised by the outcome? Why or why not?