PERCEPTION 



PERCH 



Problems in interest, commission, profit and 

 loss, discount, taxes, insurance, and so on, come 

 under one of the three divisions of percentage 

 discussed here : ( 1 ) To find any per cent of any 

 number. (2) To find what per cent one num- 

 ber is of another. (3) To find a number when 

 a certain per cent of it is known. A.H. 



PERCEPTION, per sep' shun. The mind is 

 awakened to activity through impressions 

 brought to it by the senses. Perception is the 

 process of interpreting these impressions. Per- 

 ;on and observation are very much the 

 same. The relation between perception and 

 sensation is so close that we cannot separate 

 them. Sensations grow into perceptions. A 

 mere impression of color or sound is a sensa- 

 tion ; that sensation interpreted becomes a per- 

 ception, or a percept. For instance, a red ball 

 passing before the eye produces a sensation of 

 red upon the retina. If no attention is given 

 it the observer does not know whether the 

 sensation was caused by a ball or some other 

 object. If attention is given this sensation, 

 however, the observer at once interprets it in 

 the light of former experiences. He recognizes 

 its form and size and compares the object with 

 other similar objects that he has observed be- 

 fore and decides that it is a ball. Perception, 

 then, is sensation plus experience. 



The growth of perception is very slow in 

 young children, and their crude and ridiculous 

 ideas are due to lack of experience. Perception 

 is a progressive process, and the child con 

 his ideas as his experience broadens. We have 

 different ideas of the same object because we 

 have had different experiences, and each per- 

 son interprets each new impression in the light 

 of his own experience. Many city children 

 have no knowledge of the source of milk be- 

 yond the bottle in which it is delivered at the 

 home. A country child has no better idea of 

 the streets, buildings and other intricacies of 

 a great < uli country 1, 



necessary for the city child, and <-\]>< -i 

 with my iiiV i^ -c|ii:illy ixcossary for the coun- 

 try child. 



Training in Perception. Complete perception 

 involves the use of all th<> senses that can be 

 brought to bear upon an object. In order to 

 get a complete idea of an orange, for example, 

 the child must see it, handle it, taste it and 

 smell it. If he looks at the orange it will be 

 nothing more than a yellow ball to him. Par- 

 ents and teachers often rely too much upon th<> 

 eye in teaching young children. The child's 

 instinct to handle things is not purposeless, 



since he gains ideas through the sense of touch 

 that he can gain in no other way. Each sense 

 should be trained. One of the chief educative 

 values of kindergarten occupations, drawing and 

 manual training exercises in the grades is that 

 they enable the pupil to handle and fashion 

 material and in this way to extend his powers 

 of observation. 



Another point that should also be remem- 

 bered is that the child observes only one or 

 two features of an object at one time, therefore 

 repeated observations are necessary to gaining 

 a complete idea. It is often advisable to direct 

 the child's observation to some particular fea- 

 ture that he has previously overlooked. 



Children and adults alike are prone to see 

 what they expect to see; therefore anticipa- 

 tion is an important factor in training the ob- 

 H nation. People often entertain erroneous 

 ideas because of preconceived notions they have 

 formed concerning objects they have never ob- 

 served. Therefore a description of a new object 

 before it is presented is sometimes helpful, 

 especially if the object is complex. In this 

 description emphasis should be placed on the 

 features to which the child's attention should 

 first be attracted. 



Illusion and Hallucination. Illusions and hal- 

 lucinations sometimes exert a strong influence 

 over one's perceptions (see HALIATI NATION). 

 The moon when near the horizon, for instance, 

 appears larger than when it is near the zenith. 

 and objects seen through a fog often appear 

 to be greatly enlarged (see illustration, page 

 2836). The imagination is also a strong factor 

 in the formation of ideas. Children who are 

 told that the "bad man" will get them, or that 

 all sorts of dire monsters arc lurking in dark 

 corners ready to pounce upon them if they do 

 not behave, are constantly "seeing things" in 

 the dark. The mere mention of such a practice 

 is enough to lead tho- in nv of small children 

 to realize its evil consequences. \\ > 



Consult Broad's Prrcrjition*. Phyaica and Real' 

 ity ; James's Principles of PaycHologv. 



Itclntrd SubjrrtM. Perception la cloudy r*- 

 i to tin- following subjects, nil of which are 



I in these volumes: 

 Apperception Eye 



Attention Imagination 



Concept Senses, Special 



PERCH, a fnmily of about 125 species of 



fresh-watrr fish, distributed in the cooler parta 



ho northern hemisphere. The perches have 



elongated bodies, either flattened or round, and 



small, rough scales. Two species well known 



