By "wishful" we mean an expectation with a low probability of being confirmed by events. "Wishfulness" has to do with the nature of the expectations which are at work and is not a term relevant to the perceiving process as such. This "minimax" axiom we have referred to elsewhere as the construction-defense balance in perceiving ( 1).Īll of which is not to say that perception is always wishful or "autistic." Indeed, that is not the point. A second axiom concerns the operation of such directive factors: given a stimulus input of certain characteristics, directive processes in the organism operate to organize the perceptual field in such a way as to maximize percepts relevant to current needs and expectations and to minimize percepts inimical to such needs and expectations. Our basic axiom has already been stated - that perceiving is a process which results from the stimulation of a prepared or eingestellt organism. The present study, though empirical in nature, is essentially an essay in the theory of perception - or at least that part of the theory of perception which deals with directive factors in the perceiving process. For it has prevented the emergence of new hypotheses which, flowing even from premature principles, might serve to test the utility of theories of perception. That students of nonsensory or "directive" factors in perception have thus far refrained from any large-scale statement of principles, while it is a mark of admirable modesty in the face of a very confusing array of experimental data, is highly regrettable. There have been very few systematic efforts to analyze the dimensions of set and to formulate laws regarding the effectiveness of set in perception such as those which describe stimulus-perception relationships. If we sometimes, in simple sensory experiments, fail to do so, the reason is not that we do not care about the attitude of the organism but, rather, that we take it for granted that the observer is attentive to the task and that he is seeking to judge in terms of some required sensory dimension and not some other. And so, in many situations the student of perception must also specify the expectancies of the organism when exposed to stimulation. It is a truism worth repeating that the perceptual effect of a stimulus is necessarily dependent upon the set or expectancy of the organism. The organism in perception is in one way or another in a state of expectancy about the environment. There is never, in the old-fashioned language of G. Stimuli, however, do not act upon an indifferent organism. This first set of specifications we are used to calling "stimulus" factors. This is done either in terms of physical measures such as wave length, or in terms of psychological norms such as in the description of a picture as that picture is seen by "normal" observers under optimal conditions and with a set for accuracy. One set describes the conditions of stimulation. For under all conditions, perceiving represents a resultant of two complex sets of specifications. Perceiving, for all its nicety of functioning in the dark room under strict instructions for accuracy, comprises a highly complex series of little understood psychological processes. On the Perception of Incongruity: A Paradigmįirst published in Journal of Personality, 18, 206-223. Picking the right kind of blue, however, is an important factor in getting the look just right.Classics in the History of Psychology - Bruner & Postman (1949) In this article we’re going to focus on blue, and it has been said by some that if a person can’t look good in blue then they cannot look good in anything! We jest, of course, but it’s very difficult to look bad in a good blue suit. Put simply, grey and blue suits have so much more life in them, and all men look great in a grey or blue suit. Outside of these two very specific situations it was considered that the two most suitable suit colour options for men were grey or blue of all manner of shades and variants appropriate for different occasions. There was a time when every man knew that black suits were for funerals or Black Tie events and even this latter option was specifically a Dinner Suit or Tuxedo, not a regular black suit. It’s a sad thing when conventions that exist with good reason fall out of common knowledge and therefore go largely ignored - the dominance, in modern menswear, for example, of the black lounge suit, is completely at odds with what was once conventional wisdom.
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