ScienceDaily: What you know changes how you see things

“Researchers at the George Washington University have gained important insight into how the human brain processes an object in the visual system and where in the brain this processing takes place. Their study, "Mugs and Plants: Object Semantic Knowledge Alters Perceptual Processing with Behavioral Ramifications," shows people perceive objects differently depending on their prior knowledge and experience with that object.

The findings could have important implications in applied settings such as medical displays, cognitive assistants, and product and environmental design, according to the researchers.

"Since the way we perceive objects determines how we interact with them, it is important to visually process them quickly and with high detail" Sarah Shomstein, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at GW said. "However, the way our eyes perceive and process an object can be different depending on what we know about this object. Our study shows, for the first time, that if we recognize an object as a tool, we perceive it faster but with less detail. If we recognize an object as a non-tool, we perceive it slower but with higher detail."”

Some Insights From This Article

• Ever had an argument or discussion in which you simply could not come to understand the other person’s perspective or point of view? Perhaps no matter how you think or twist and perceive the situation you simply have no clue on how their conclusion was reached?

• Recent studies show and support the finding that a person’s unique knowledge built by experiences, education and genetics may affect how they perceive things and process information from the environment.

• To this sense, everyone has their own unique way of processing information and building conclusions all dependent on how they were each uniquely raised and grew up throughout their life.

Full article is here!

#Perspectives #Perception