Chapter 4: Perceiving and Believing

actively sense

"actively selecting, organizing, and interpreting what is experienced by your senses" Your active participation in perceiving your world is something you are not usually aware of.

Fact v. inference

- Carelessly made or carefully made - Previous background or experience or none at all - May be true or not true

Being active 2

- Selecting - sensations to pay attention to - Organizing - sensations into patterns or design - Interpreting - determining the meaning of the pattern or design to you IN BOOK : 1. electing certain sensations to pay attention to 2. Organizing these sensations into a design or pattern 3. Interpreting what this design or pattern means to you

Viewing the World through "Lenses" A diagram of the process might look like this:

---> person A ---> (2) even --->(1) ---> person B ----> (3) (1) select,organize,interpret (2) Perception A (3) Perception B

Often unaware of these operations, we perform them quickly, automatically, and often simultaneously Slow down to understand the process

-Often unaware of these operations, we perform them quickly, automatically, and often simultaneously -Slow down to understand the process -By combining sensations with the way your mind selects, organizes, and interprets sensations, you perceive a world of things that is stable and familiar -----> a world that makes sense to you

Being active 1

-Senses don't simply record (we focus, ignore, etc) -Active participant - trying to understand senses -As you perceive your world, your experience is the result of combining sensations with the way you understand sensations...i.e. MAKE sense of the sensations

Which of the following statements represents an interpretation?

. "Poetry enables humans to communicate deep, complex emotions and ideas that resist simple expression."

Thinking Passage: Experiences Shape Your Perceptions

As you think critically about your perceptions, you learn more from your experiences and about how you make sense of the world. Your perceptions may be strengthened by this understanding, or they may be changed by it

beliefs How do you define?

Defined - interpretations, evaluations, conclusions or predication about the world Interactive relationship with perceptions, each influence the other

Factors that shape perceptions

Demographics / Background Past experiences Relationships Training / Education Interests / Expertise Taste Values / Goals / Aspirations

Inferring

Describing the world in ways that are based on factual information but go BEYOND this information to make statements about what is currently not known or uncertain Inferences fill in the gaps to paint a complete picture. Inference vs. Fact. Difficult to communicate by only sticking to factual observations. Need both. In practice, state inference and facts separately (likely, possible, appears, etc)

Reporting factual information

Describing the world in ways that can be verified through investigation Personal - sense experience ID source of information Evaluating reliability Communicate via reporting Strive for accuracy

judging

Describing the world in ways that express an evaluation based on certain criteria Facts and inferences help you figure out what is happening, judgments express your evaluation about what is happening

Differences in judgment

Establish criteria or standards as basis for judgment - Credible? Establish reasons justifying criteria (evidence) Merit wins

endorsement

In addition to expressing an interpretation, evaluation, conclusion, or prediction about the world, beliefs also express an endorsement of the accuracy of the beliefs by the speaker or author. This "endorsement" by the speaker is a necessary dimension of a belief, and we assume it to be the case even if the speaker doesn't directly say, "I believe."

Thinking critically

Involves understanding how "lenses" influence perception, beliefs, and knowledge

What do we call the process by which we describe the world in ways that express an evaluation based on certain criteria?

Judging

Explanation or analysis of meaning or significance

Judgment of value or quality based on certain standards

Types of beliefs

Not all beliefs are equal 3 types Reports Inferences Judgments

Inferring

Often wrong. Evaluate certainty (i.e. risk). Can lead to predictions. (think about why - lack of info, misinformation, unanticipated or unknown variables) ex: Fact - you missed last 2 weeks of school Inference - you are sick; you are dealing with a family issue; you just hate ANCH 108, you are on vacation, you are lazy

Conclusion

Opinion formed or decision reached after consideration of the evidence

Which of the following is NOT one of the basic types of beliefs you use to make sense of the world?

Opinions

Explore perceiving

Perceiving process, leads to construction of beliefs

Believing

Perceptions alone may not be reliable foundation to understand the world You: often bias, assumptions, distortions, inaccurate perceptions Perceptions help create beliefs

Is what you are perceiving actually taking place? (normally we assume so) Perceptions differ - why?

Perceptions differ because of lenses To become an active thinker you must become aware your lenses that you are others are wearing

Which of the following is NOT an activity of the automatic process of perception?

Predicting

Perceiving sense

Senses experience the world The process of becoming aware of your world through sense is "perceiving"

prediction

Statement about what will happen in the future

Making sense of the world

Thinking is how you make sense of the world Solve problems, analyze issues, make decisions How do arrive here?

Conclusion

a decision made or an opinion formed after consideration of the relevant facts or evidence)

Evaluation

a judgment of the value or quality of something, based on certain standards)

Prediction

a statement about what will happen in the future

Your __________ in perceiving your world is something you are not usually aware of.

active participation

Interpretation

an explanation or analysis of the meaning or significance of something)

The definition of perceiving is:

b. using your senses to experience and make sense of your world.

Interpretations, evaluations, conclusions, or predictions about the world that we endorse as true are called:

beliefs.

To clarify and validate your perceptions, you must:

critically examine and evaluate them.

Because __________ play such an important role in our exchange and accumulation of information about the world, it is important that they be as accurate and complete as possible.

factual reports

Factual reports represent an interpretation, evaluation, conclusion, or prediction about the nature of the world.

false

Having an accurate picture of the world depends on your ability to evaluate how certain your beliefs are. Therefore, it is crucial that you distinguish inferences from facts and then endeavor to act only on those bits of information that you know are facts.

false

Organizing your perceptual experiences into belief structures is a thinking process known as cognition.

false

We all passively receive our perceptions of the world similar to a camera or a tape recorder.

false

Your perceptions of the world are not dramatically influenced by your past experiences.

false

Your total collection of beliefs represents your view of the world, your philosophy of life.

false

In the text, the author uses the example of a pair of lenses to describe how various people can be exposed to the same stimuli or events and yet have different perceptions. The lenses act as:

filters that select and shape what we perceive without our realizing it.

The process by which we describe the world in ways that are based on factual information yet go beyond this information to make statements about what is not currently known is called:

inferring

Facts and inferences are designed to help you figure out what is actually happening, but the purpose of __________ is to express your evaluation about what is happening.

judgments

At its more complex level, the concept of perceiving organizes the world through:

larger patterns of meaning.

Thinking critically about your __________ results in the formation of your beliefs and ultimately in the construction of your knowledge about the world.

perceptions

At the most basic level, the concept of perceiving refers to __________ the sensations provided by the senses.

selecting, organizing, and interpreting

limitation of skill and knowledge:

talent : unteachable and hard to transferable skill teachable knowledge : teachable

What Factors Shape Perceptions? Your perceptions of the world are dramatically influenced by your past experiences:

the way you were brought up, the relationships you have had, and your training and education. It takes critical reflection to become aware of these powerful influences on our perceptions of the world and the beliefs we construct based on them.

At almost every waking moment of your life, your senses are being bombarded by a tremendous number of stimuli: images to see, noises to hear, odors to smell, textures to feel, and flavors to taste.

true

In theory, facts and inferences can be distinguished, but in practice, it is almost impossible to communicate with others by sticking only to factual observations.

true

Since our perceiving lenses are typically subjective and biased, our beliefs about the world are often subjective and biased as well.

true

The credibility of a judgment depends on the criteria used to make the judgment and the evidence or reasons that support these criteria.

true

To become an effective critical thinker

you have to become aware of the lenses that you—and others—are wearing. These lenses aid you in actively selecting, organizing, and interpreting the sensations in your experience. If you are unaware of the nature of your own lenses, you can often mistake your own perceptions for objective truth without bothering to examine either the facts or others' perceptions on a given issue.