Perception-Helson’s Adaptation Level
Our world is organized through our perceptional processes. Just as a fish may not know it is wet, we have trouble discerning our world from our perception of that world. The Von Senden (1932) studies in the 1930’s clearly demonstrated the critical importance of the perceptual process. The cataract surgery of that time was hailed as the “surgery of the century”, bringing eyesight to the blind. However, many of the people who had the eyesight restorative surgery had tremendous difficulty adjusting to the change. Many sat in darkened rooms, and some committed suicide after this surgery. Von Senden found that while the surgery returned their sensation of sight, and while they were cognitively healthy before the surgery, the difficulties these people encountered after the surgery proved insurmountable for some. If the person was born blind from cataracts and had the surgery after age 8 or so, they never were able to perceive the world around them. The perceptual constancies did not exist for them, causing sizes, shapes, and colors to constantly change. They were not able to perceive the Gestalt principles, two-dimensional art, or movement effectively. Many reported the world as uglier than they imagined, seeing litter, dirt, and disrepair for the first time. There are very few critical periods in human development, and perception appears to be the primary one. A person will either develop perception during this early period, or she or he never will.
It is difficult for us to reasonably assess our own perception. Many perceptual illusions provide a glimpse of this process, deceiving our perceptual process to the point of clarifying this process. Harry Helson (1947) recognized that our previous experiences, whether salient, immediate or distant, affect our current perceptions. This Adaptation-Level theory gave perception a more adaptable and fluid view, rather than the view that perceptual processes were persistent and invariant. While most research focused on visual perception, Helson was convinced that adaptation-level theory applied to other processes, including kinesthetic, auditory, attitudinal, and others.
Crash Course on Perception, with a discussion of Oliver Sacks and prosopagnosia (10 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unWnZvXJH2o (Links to an external site.)
10 Optical Illusions that Will Blow Your Mind (with Gestalt principles-10 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t2ePlwTeBQ (Links to an external site.)
Skateboarding on Impossible Figures (10 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORq0_-5_2h8 (Links to an external site.)
Ten perceptions explained (another Crash Course-10 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHeYxzJFVKM (Links to an external site.)
11 Optical Illusions That Will Trick Your Eyes (13 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llLVk2fqylA (Links to an external site.)
An excellent dystopian-based animated film, beautifully illustrating many perceptual principles (14 min.)
Directions
- Read the above introduction about perception and watch these youtube videos
- Answer the following questions AND come up with one question of of your own.
- Not everything sensed is perceived but do we perceive when we do not sense?
- How might you influence someone’s perception?
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