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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter presents theoretical writing and research. It includes two sections, namely theoretical description and theoretical framework. Theoretical
description presents the relevant theories which underlie the research, whereas, the theoretical framework summarizes and synthesizes all major relevant theories
which can help the researcher to solve the research problems.
A. Theoretical Description
In this section, the theories which underlie the research are presented. The theories intended are theory of perceptions, Scaffolding Strategy, and teaching
reading.
1. Perceptions
Theory of perceptions covers the definition of perceptions from some experts, the process creating perception, the factor influencing perceptions, and
relation between perceptions, learning, and thinking.
a. Definition
According to psychologists Passer and Smith 2004:134, perception is an active, creative, process in which raw sensory data are organized and given
meaning. Passer and Smith’s definition is just about George and Jones’ definition. George and Jones 2005: 105 explain that perception is the process by which
individuals select, organize, and interpret the input from their senses vision,
8 hearing, touch, smell, and taste to give meaning and order to the world around
them. According to them, there are three components influencing individual’s perception toward the matter that actually perceived; they are 1 the perceiver, 2
the target of perceptions, and 3 the situation in which the perceptions takes place George Jones, 2005: 105. The perceiver is the person trying to interpret the
input from hisher senses. The target of perceptions is whatever the perceiver is trying to make sense of.
b. The Process Creating Perceptions
Altman and Valenzi explain the perceptual process generally. According to them, the perceptual process was begun from the selection of the data from
stimulus by individual’s sensor Altman Valenzi, 1985: 86. Furthermore, they state that “the sensor selects the data from stimulus and allow individual to
interpret to the sensory message” that is received Altman Valenzi, 1985: 86. Altman and Valenzi summarizes the perceptional process in Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1 The Perceptional Process Altman, 1985: 86
In another point of view, Passer and Smith see the perceptual process from the brain process point. There are two different kinds of processing function in the
Stimuli Behavioral
response Sensors
selection of stimuli
Perceptions, organization, and
interpretation of stimuli
9 brain that create human’s perceptions according to Smith and Passer 2004:134.
The processes they proposed are bottom-up processing and top-down processing. In bottom–up processing, the process of creating perceptions takes in
individual element of stimulus; then those elements are combined into unified perceptions Passer Smith, 2004: 134. As people are reading, the feature
detectors of the visual system “analyze the elements in each letter of every word and then recombine them into our visual perceptions of the letters and the words”
thus people have a description of what they read Passer Smith, 2004: 134. In the top–down processing, the process begins with a perceptual whole,
like an expectation or an image of an object, and then determines the degree of fit with the stimulus features Passer Smith, 2004: 134. The sensory information
is interpreted in light of existing knowledge, concepts, ideas, and expectations. Passer and Smith 2004: 135 explain further that top–down processing “accounts
for many psychological influences on perceptions, such as the role played by our motive expectation, previous experiences, and cultural learning” we ever engaged.
c. The Factors Influencing Perceptions
Kategori