Perception and Communication
Communication is the process of information exchange, the way the information flows from one person to another so as to convey ideas. Human perception refers to the way people make sense of the world around them and the activities they are involved in. Being an active process, it involves the selection, organization and interpretation of activities, events, situations, objects and, most importantly, people (Wood 34). Perception is constantly under the influence of three key factors, namely physiological impact, age preconceptions, social delusions and cultural traditions. The reason why physiology influences perceptions is that there is a disparity in people’s sensory abilities as well as their physiological make-up. Different people perceive the world differently, which means that some may not be able to see as clearly as others do due to eye problems.
This affects the way people make their interpretations. The same ideas can be applied concerning hearing. Soe have poor hearing capacities, and therefore any oral communication is bound to have a variation in its interpretation. Moreover, people develop different tastes as they are exposed to different foods, and drinks. Thus when someone encounters anything that is strange to his cultivated taste, he is bound to have either negative or positive perception of that type of food.
What is more, the sense of touch also varies from person to person, depending on their experiences. This also leads to dissimilar interpretations by different people on how they perceive particular things (Wood 67).Age is also a major factor of people’s perception. Therefore, elderly people prone to link their encounters with their previous experiences. On the contrary, young men apply to their learning experience. They are therefore bound to have considerable difference in interpreting various things, while being fuelled partly by the thirst for adventure.
Societal attitudes also take a vital part. There are certain roles that are usually imposed on us by other people. The massage sent by such people states that we have roles to fulfill as men and women. Consequently, this influences our perceptions. On the one hand, man’s aim by culture is to seduce women and therefore they tend to tailor their verbal communication on those lines. Women, on the other hand, are not expected to seduce, and therefore have a more relaxed perception of communication.
Cultural influences are last but not least crucial factor. I was once engaged in a discussion with a man. He would continuously talk even when I thought he ought to listen. However, later I realized that in his community, people are used to talking while listening at the same time (Wood 76).It is a foregone conclusion that perception, being an integral part of communication, influences the way people apprehend information, owing to their physiological particularities, age, social and cultural beliefs.
