Explain the four steps in the perceptual process?

There are actually three steps within the perceptual process. These three steps within the perceptual process include interpretation, organization and of course selection.

• Selection

Selection is the procedure whereby you will choose, or 'select' what you want to actually attend to. It is also the process in which you choose what you want to completely disregard. You as a thinking and conscious individual will choose what is relevant and important to you within this process. Selection is influenced by both stimuli and motives.

Stimuli are the things that make you do something. For example, if you are making a cup of tea and someone asks for a sugar, this stimuli will mean that you put some sugar in that person's cup of tea.

A motive is a little different, however. The motive is something that is already in your head at the beginning of the process, which will influence you to make a particular decision about something. Stimuli might also be strong odors or scents, or bright lights and colors. Basically, a stimuli is something that affects you due to your senses receiving information.

• Interpretation

This is the way in which you understand how something has happened, or why something may have happened. It is how you and your brain look at a particular thing that has happened. You will later make a judgement based on this initial interpretation. Basically this is just the way in which you will take something on board in your mind when it has happened.

• Organization

This is also how you see and arrange things in your mind. It looks at how you arrange things that you choose and how you organize your choices. For more information, you will find many educational resources online that talk about this area of study.