In addition, in order to support this study, the writer also presents the theory of perception since one of the aims of this research is to find out the
student’s perception on the use of mind-mapping technique.
2. Perception
a. Definition of Perception
There are some sources to define perception. Perception is defined as a process of organizing information that an individual gains from his environment
to make it logical and sensible Gibson, 1997. In other words, perception is the way to organize information around and to make it logical and sensible.
Meanwhile, Gibson, Ivancevich, and Donnelly 1985 state that perception is an activity which employs us in every day of our lives. The perception is a set of
factors which influence the motivational state of people in organization. It means that perception influences a person’s motivation in his or her surroundings.
In addition, according to Kreitner and Kinicki 1992, perception is mental and cognitive process that enables us to interpret and understand our
surroundings. It means that perception is a response of our surroundings. Meanwhile, Leontiev 1981 states that perception is the process by which
existence of objects and phenomena is reflected in a person’s consciousness. The process happens with the help of the person’s sensory organs namely: eyes, ears,
tongue, nose, and skin. Leontiev’s statement means that a person’s sensory organ helps to perceive objects, surroundings, and events around him or her consciously.
Meanwhile, Altman, Valensi, and Hodgetts 1985 define perception as a person’s way of selecting and grouping stimuli, so that stimuli can be interpreted
meaningfully. Altman et al. 1985 adds that perception is a process by which a person views reality. The way a person views the reality depends on how the
available information is organized. Furthermore, Forgus 1966 states that perception is a process of information extraction. It means that perception is the
process where the information is selected or sorted. After knowing some definitions of perception, relationship between
perceptions, learning and thinking will be presented in the next discussion.
b. Relationship between Perceptions, Learning and Thinking
In learning English as a foreign language, students’ perception has an important role. Tse 2000 states that students’ perception of their foreign
language FL learning classroom experiences have important pedagogical and
programmatic implications. It has also been theorized as having an effect on linguistic outcomes. Students’ perception also covers wide variety factors related
to their foreign language experiences, including opinion about their teachers, views of instructional activities and approaches, and expressions of satisfaction
with their progress in their classroom. Young 1991 states their hypothesis that pedagogically, students’ opinions and attitudes toward specific classroom
activities or teacher-student interactions can affect decisions related to the best way to modify and employ various techniques and methods in the classroom.
Therefore, students’ perception on what they learn also have role to the success and failure on the learning.
Perception is defined as a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment
Robbins, 2005. So, the perception is the product of the responding to the stimulus or to the surrounding and of the process itself.
Figure 2. Gibson’s Perceptual Process Gibson et al., 1985
Based on Gibson’s perceptual process, there are three main points in the process of forming perception. The first is the input of stimuli. Each person selects
various cues that influence his or her perceptions of people, objects, and symbols Gibson et al., 1985. Each person will select different signal that shehe wants
based on herhis needs. After shehe has the signal, shehe observes those signals or stimuli. The observation of the stimuli includes the cognitive processing. It
means that each person processes the stimuli in the mind. When the cognitive process is finished, it will result as the evaluation and interpretation of the reality.
In this point, heshe will give herhis interpretation or it can be called by sensation and evaluation of the stimuli. Through the interpretation and evaluation, it can
result the response of behavior and attitudes formed. Perception, on the other hand, better describes ones ultimate experience of the world and typically
involves further processing of sensory input. In practice, sensation and perception are virtually impossible to separate, because they are part of one continuous
process.
Stimuli Observation of
the stimuli
The evaluation and
interpretation
of reality
A response
behavior
Attitudes
formed
Perception sometimes can also change and does not remain static. It depends on the stimulus, which is experienced by people who perceive. For
example, the researcher perceives that being a teacher was not enjoyable occupation in the past because he has not experienced being as a teacher yet. But,
now the experience may change that being a teacher is an enjoyable occupation after he has teaching experience. So, from the example, it can be seen that stimuli
can affect people in forming their new perception. If perception can change, it is also possible for the students to change their
perception on what they experience especially on the use of mind-mapping technique. The students’ perception on the use of mind-mapping can change
based on the stimuli during experiencing it in their learning process. It is very important and useful to see the progress of the students in their learning process.
The students’ perception on the use on mind-mapping can be gained from a process in forming a perception. They have a signal that is mind-mapping
technique in their learning process based on their need. Then, they experience and observe their signal or stimuli. In this process, the cognitive process is also
happening in their mind. Finally, they have their own perception when the process is complete.
c. Factors Influencing Perceptions
