Every human being has five external senses, namely hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch (Bos and Read). These five sensory inputs determine how we interpret and understand the world we live in. We can define sensory perception as the process in which we use these five senses to receive stimuli, interpret and organize them in order to understand the meaning the environment around us. It is because of sensory perceptions that we are aware of our immediate surrounding by interpreting sensory information for survival purposes (Brewer, 2002).
Personally, I believe that sensory information is not accurately interpreted by the five human senses. The very first reason that I believe in the inaccuracy of sensory information is because human sensory perception has its limits, especially when it comes to its interests. In the environment around us, there are numerous stimuli, but only the significant ones are selected by our human senses (Brewer, 2002). This is why the sensory information that we encode in our memories is inaccurate.
The second reason I believe in the inaccuracy of sensory information is because the scope of sensory input capabilities of a human being tend to vary. Arguably, most human beings do not have equable senses even when they have the same number of senses. Some people might not make sense of certain stimuli but others might be able them quite instantly. Moreover, similar stimulus can be perceived in different ways by different people; therefore, the interpretations can vary. Thus, some of conclusions that are brains come to by interpreting sensory information can be inaccurate since human sensory receptors vary. So we can say that the accuracy of our information depends on how we interpret them (Palmer, Ames & Lindsey, 1993).
The third reason that I believe in the inaccuracy of sensory information is because the sensory capabilities of different human beings also tend to vary. Although, most of us have all our five senses, some of us are able to use our senses better than others. For instance, some individuals tend to have a strong sense of smell, while others are born without particular smell receptors, and this prevents them detecting certain senses. Thus, I come to conclusion that it is our human sensory capabilities that determine how we interpret sensory information and what we perceive through it. Arguably, human beings have not discovered everything there is to discover and because of the incapability of the human senses, they might never be discovered.
The accuracy of sensory data is influenced by numerous factors. The length of time and the extent to which we have been exposed to a certain stimuli is one such factor. The more time someone has spent to perceive stimuli, the more accurately they will be able to encode the sensory data in their memory (Soteriou, 2000). If we are exposed to stimuli adequately enough, then our sensors will be able to receive the stimuli appropriate and interpret them accurately, ensuring the accuracy of sensory data.
Our age is also another factor that influences the accuracy of our sensory data. For instance, a baby might not be capable of interpreting sensory data as accurately as an adult can (Soteriou, 2000). Based on biological research, ability to perceive sensory data depends on certain brain cells. If our sensory cells have developed properly, then we will be able to interpret the different stimuli that we perceive from the environment surrounding us correctly, and thus, the sensory data that our memory will gain will also be accurate.
The third factor that tends to influence the accuracy of our sensory data constantly we have been perceiving stimuli and our experience. Our experience in regard to perceiving stimuli determines to what extent we will be able to accurately perceive sensory data (Soteriou, 2000). For instance, if we have been raised while constantly perceiving particular stimuli, such as smells and sounds, then there will come a time when we will be able to interpret those senses expertly. Thus, experience also influences the accuracy of sensory data by enhancing our sensory perception
There have been a lot of debts surrounding the role that nature and nurture plays when it comes to perceiving and interpreting sensory data. Arguably, it is an obvious fact that we receive stimuli from the environment surrounding us. Thus, the environment that surrounds us while we were growing up determines how accurately we will be able to interpret sensory data. For instance, our sensory receptors might tend to avoid stimuli such as the noise of traffic and other disturbances because we grew up in an urban environment. However, our senses would immediately perceive the stimuli of an urban environment and try to interpret them if we have grown up in a natural, rural environment.
Similarly, our ability to perceive and interpret sensory data can also be affected and influenced by nurture as well. Arguably, perceiving stimuli from the environment that surrounds us and interpreting the stimuli is quite similar to the nurturing of a human being. The way an individual might perceive and interpret stimuli depends on how the individual’s perceptions have been nurtured. Everything that we have been nurtured to believe and perceive determines how we will select, perceive, and interpret stimuli from our surrounding environment (Brewer, 2002). Thus, our ability to encode the variety of stimuli that we receive from our environment and how we perceive and interpret those stimuli defends on how we have been nurtured.
Thus, the variations in sensory perception are quite apparent, and it is also apparent that the environment that surrounds people determines their sensory perception.
References
Bos, E., & Read, D. D. (2001). Concepts. the treatises of Thomas of Cleves and Paul of Gelria an edition of the texts with a systematic introduction. Peeters Publishers.
Brewer, B. (2002). Perception and reason. Oxford University Press.
Palmer, J., Ames, C. T., & Lindsey, D. T. (1993). Measuring the affects of attention on simple visual search. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 19(1), 108-130. Retrieved from http://faculty.washington.edu/jpalmer/files/palmer_ames_lindsey93.pdf
Soteriou, M. (2000). The particularity of visual perception.European Journal of Philosophy, 8(2), 173–189. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-0378.00107/abstract
