The Mechanism System of Perception

18 Beyond the ‘Perceptual Field’ there is a set of mechanism that may result in ‘Perceptual Field’ at this time and at this place, so that conjunctive perception is confined. The conception of ‘Reacting Part’ refers to the part of human’s physiology with which the environment is involved directly. It encompasses the brain and nerve systems. The last term ‘World 1’ denotes the aspects of ‘Reality’, ‘Perceptual Field’, and ‘Reacting Part’ that are implicated in perceptual events.

2.1.4.1 The Mechanism System of Perception

The fundamental mechanism of perception comprises of a set of conjoining parts of which physiology and psychology serve as the integrating systems. There is Reality that comes as the outer environment of the observed object. The Reality creates some aspects of environment that influence the sensory physiology and we call it Perceptual Field. Particular messages related to the information of the Reality are the results of the Perceptual Field. Henceforth, the messages are immediately delivered to the observer’s sensory physiology in the brain as a Reacting Part. In this phase the messages are translated. Only if the results generate some changes and reactions in the observer’s physiology: the nerve systems, the results of the translation will also invoke the observer’s emotions and thoughts. Thus, we call it as Interpretative Perception. Otherwise, it serves as an immediate perception if the messages merely induce neural events in the brain. The schematic system of perception occurs as Reality → Perceptual Field → Reacting Part ↔ Emotions and Thoughts. In order to give a clear understanding of the complex term of perception, Little 1999 organizes the terms of perception into two levels. The first is PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 19 immediate perception. It is the psychological responses to perceptual fields, in which the operation of the physical universe follows its mechanistic path ways. Some of which happen to occur as neural events in our brain. The second level of perception comes as the interpretative level where our psychology and attention are implicated in the perceptual acts. Immediate perception happens as “an operation of the physical universe following its mechanistic pathways…as neutral events in our brains” Little, 1999. The mechanism system of this immediate perception causes no fostering results of emotions and thoughts in the Reacting Part. It is due to the fact that the perceivers experience changes neither in their physiologies nor in their emotions and thoughts. In order that the comprehension of immediate perception is augmented, there is, for instance, a case when a person saw an object in a certain place. The object, let us say “a tree”, contributed a direct concept to the Perceptual Field, which then the Reacting Part stimulated it as an immediate message to be understood directly in the brain. The person would directly perceive it as a tree and there was no result in changes of emotions and thoughts because the concept of the observed object had already been settled as a neutral object in the brain. The mechanism of interpretative perception is a set of physical events in the physical universe. The external Reality generates Perceptual Field that is influencing the physical senses, which in turns it influences the Reacting Part. This Reacting Part has other aspects to its environment; in the reality, it can influence or be influenced by other parts of human’s thinking process and other consequential events conducted by other persons or by nature. The messages PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 20 delivered in the brain will then arouse some responsive feelings and thoughts towards the event or other person connected with the receptor. By any case the physical senses of human body become the devices that receive the signal or stimuli; eyes and ears work as the direct senses that receive the most influencing messages to the receptor. The messages are then converted into some sort of impulses to the brain in which the mental system works to articulate the messages. The articulated messages evoke the certain feeling and thoughts within the receptor the person. These feelings and thoughts are the conductor of physical and mental responses of human as the action he or she may decide to do. This theory is used in order to analyze the perception of John Cooper’s and Catarina de Escobar’s towards the Indians based on their own experiences. And, this theory underlies the main goal of this thesis in order to analyze the perception that these two persons have towards the Indians.

2.1.5 Relationships