Activating our filters: selective perception

Selective perception is a very common cognitive distortion. It affects the perception process and makes us see, hear or focus our attention on a stimulus based on our expectations without considering the rest of the information. An example occurs when we decide to get a certain asset, such as a car, and we begin to pay more attention to the different models. Another example would occur when we are waiting for someone and we know in which direction they will appear.

It is related to preconceived ideas, our interests and the desire or fear we have for something to happen. It is a biased and partial interpretation of reality. The function of selective perception is to optimize the investment of our cognitive resources, bringing them together, for example, where we expect something to happen.

Besides, Our emotions have a lot to do with this process. We generate a parallel scenario with which we work and that may be more or less similar to what actually happens. Thus, in the configuration of that, our reality, selective perception plays an important role.

How are filters created in selective perception?

There are two models that try to explain this process:

The Posner model that differentiates the perception of the message in three stages: changes in attention, attentional engagement and disengagement. That is, the message captures our attention, we begin to process the new information, and end perception to direct attention to other stimuli.The La Bergue model, complementary to the Posner model and also in three stages: selection, preparation and maintenance, the latter is the time we spend perceiving the message.

In both models, a process is identified by which selective perception is carried out and not on a single action.

What influences us?

Mainly two types of phenomena: the nature of the stimulus and the internal aspects of each one. The nature of the stimuli It refers to sensory aspects through which we perceive some stimuli more intensely than others. They can be characteristic of the stimulus, such as size, color, shape, movement, location or the effect of surprise.

Among the internal aspects of the individualAs most important, we have expectations and motivation. We tend to perceive more intensely what we expect to see or what interests us. This can activate involuntary attention, that which captures our attention instinctively, such as the crying of a baby. The same one that advertisers know well to make us direct our attention to the most notable characteristics of what they want to sell us.

This phenomenon causes perceptual distortions such as:

Selective exposurewe only see and hear what pleases us.selective attention, It makes us focus on what interests us, discarding the rest of the information.The perceptual defense through which we erase from our perceptual field those elements that threaten us.

Selective perception: a double-edged sword

Despite being a mechanism that allows the individual to filter relevant information and thus avoid an overload of stimuli, selective perception it makes us lose very valuable information in many situations. The amount of stimuli that we are susceptible to perceiving is enormous. Only, as recipients of advertising messages, we are the target of hundreds of messages that will have a great influence on our behavior.

It also occurs in romantic relationships, where a priori important information can be ignored because one tends to perceive what is interesting or meets the individual’s expectations. It even happens on time to form the self-concept because it makes objectivity difficult.

Dearborn and Simon studied the effect of selective perception in executives of large companies and they concluded that the understanding of complex stimuli is deeper when they are not novel.

They also studied the case of the relationship within companies between bosses and employees and found that the positive or negative image that bosses have of their employees conditions the way in which they evaluate the performance of their workers. Another example that we perceive what we are prepared to perceive. Thus, from the above, we can deduce that our perception participates in the configuration of the world with which we work.

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