Perception is the acquisition of information from the external world through the senses, while cognition is the processing of that information. Perception affects cognition, which in turn affects perception. Different people have different ways of learning, and the methods of studying perception depend on the researcher’s approach. Cognition is related to how people mentally process their experiences and base their decisions, conclusions, and behaviors on the results of those mental processes. The processes involved in perception and cognition and how they influence behavior underpin psychology.
The connection between perception and cognition is that perception is defined as the acquisition of information from the external world through the five senses and cognition as the processing of that information. They are very closely related in that perception affects cognition which in turn affects perception. While perception is the gathering of information, cognition is the acquisition of knowledge through the use of perception, reasoning, and intuition.
Understanding perception means understanding how external stimuli interact with the senses to form visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory and gustatory representations of the world. There are many different types of perception including color, depth, shape, tactile and vocal perception. Different people have different ways of learning, and whether they are image thinkers for example will determine whether they rely on visual perception more than, say, auditory perception. Others who prefer to manipulate their environment may rely more on tactile perception to retain information. The methods of studying perception depend on the researcher’s approach and range from a basic biological or physiological approach to an essentially psychological or philosophical approach.
Cognition is related to how people mentally process their experiences and then base their decisions, conclusions, and behaviors on the results of those mental processes. People use their past knowledge and experience to actively process information gathered through the senses to form new concepts and ideas about their environment or current situation. As new information is acquired, perceptions change, and these new perceptions form the basis of the self and the social self. People acquire, store and process information in different ways that take into account different personalities and behavioral patterns.
The process of perception and cognition is largely unconscious and it is only when another person’s behavior is challenging or something in the environment is strange or threatening that the interpretation of behavior or external factors becomes more conscious. The fact that there is a lack of awareness that perception and cognition dictate attitudes and behaviors is why people sometimes need the help of scientists such as psychologists to understand why they act or feel the way they do. However, the study of perception and cognition is constant and ongoing as the workings of the mind are still largely a mystery.
The processes involved in perception and cognition and how they influence behavior underpin psychology, and different branches of psychology place emphasis on analyzing different aspects of the equation. Cognitive psychology, for example, deals with mental processes such as perception, thinking, learning and memory, while behaviorism is the theory that behavior, whether human or animal, is the result of conditioning and has little or no no connection with thoughts or feelings. Cognitive psychologists focus on changing thought processes when trying to change maladaptive behaviors, while behaviorists would focus on changing behavior patterns themselves.
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