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Another point of view about perception comes from Forgus 1966: 1. Forgus defines perception as the process of information extraction. It means that
perception is the process where the information is filtered or selected. Altman, Valenzi, and Hodgetts 1985: 85 add that perception is the way stimuli are
selected and grouped by a person in such a way that the stimuli can be meaningfully interpreted see figure 1. Furthermore, Altman et. al state that
perception is how a person views reality. The way a person views the reality depends on how the information that is available organized.
After knowing some definitions of perception, in the following discussion the writer will discuss how perception arise in someone’s mind.
b. The Perceptual Process
As stated by Altman et. al 1985: 85 perception is the way stimuli are selected and grouped by a person in such a way that the stimuli can be
meaningfully interpreted. Below is the diagram showing how the perceptual process happens.
behavioral response
perception, organization, and interpretation of
stimuli sensors’
selection of stimuli
stimuli
Figure 1 Altman et. al, 1985: 86
The existence of perception begins from the stimuli. Warga 1983: 207 defines stimuli as forms of physical energy that strikes our sensory receptors. The
physical energy is usually in forms of light, heat, and pressure. Sensory receptors are the organs of our body ears, nose, skin, eyes whose duty is to convey
messages to the brain. Before the message is being interpreted, the stimuli are PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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selected in the brain. The selected stimuli will result in the form of information. The information will be organized and interpreted by the brain. The interpretation
of the information is called sensation the translation of external energy. After interpreting the information, the brain then translates the information into
meanings. The result of the meaningful translation of the information is called perception. An example of this is when a person sees a smoked-jug, he or she
might interpret the jug contains either hot water or cold water. The person’s seeing of the smoke is called the sensation. If the person decides to touch the jug,
thus the person translated the sensation into perception of a jug containing cold water. The example above shows that sensation and perception is different.
People tend to consider sensation and perception the same. Sensation is the translation of external energy, while perception is the sensation’s meaningful
translation. The interpretation process results in behavior response. Since behavioral response is not included in this study; thus, the next discussions will
not present the behavioral response. From the perceptual process discussed above, it is clearly seen that
perception comes from the stimuli. The stimuli then are selected in the brain. The selected stimuli will result in the form of information. The information will be
organized and interpreted by the brain. After interpreting the information, the brain then translates the information into meanings. The result of the meaningful
translation of the information is then called perception. Furthermore, perception will create behavior response. Perception may arise from some factors. Thus, in
the following discussion, the writer will present some factors which can affect someone’s perception on something.
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c. Factors Influencing Perception
