Every day, people assume that what they are seeing is accurately reflecting the world around them. However, research in psychology and neuroscience suggests that perception is more complex than simply receiving sensory information. Rather than being a camera capturing reality as a still photograph, the human brain is actively interpreting, organizing, and reconstructing incoming information based on prior experiences, expectations, motivations, and attentional processing. As a result, individuals can view the same object, event, or situation and arrive at completely different interpretations. Both Kirsten Weir’s article, “Is Seeing Believing? How We Make Sense of the World Around Us,” and Dr. Nicholas Baker’s research on visual object representation challenges the assumption that perception is objective. Although the two works examine perception from different perspectives, they support the same conclusion: the brain actively constructs our understanding of the world by selectively processing information and relying on prior knowledge, experience, and expectations.
Weir’s article explains that perception is not simply the result of sensory input. Instead, the brain interprets incoming stimuli through existing mental schemas, goals, motivations, and beliefs. This process can lead individuals to experience the same event in quite different ways due to the way they attend details and interpret information. Similarly, Baker’s research demonstrates that the visual system does not store exact copies of visual stimuli, and it abstracts information by keeping only the most essential information. Together, these findings suggest that perception is an active, constructive process rather than a passive replication of reality.
Another significant connection between the two works is the role of prior knowledge in shaping perception. In Weir’s article, previous experiences and beliefs influence how individuals interpret sensory information. For example, participants with different attitudes toward police focused on distinct aspects of the same interaction and formed different judgements about what they saw. Likewise, Baker's research highlights the importance of familiarity in encoding shapes. His findings suggest that familiar shapes are easier to recognize and remember since existing knowledge provides a framework for interpretation. In both cases, prior experience serves as a cognitive tool for guiding perception and interpretation. Additionally, Weir emphasized that selective attention limits what individuals notice by recalling the “invisible gorilla” experiment that demonstrated that people could fail to notice highly visible stimuli when their attention is focused on something else. Similarly, Baker’s research relies on the fact that the visual system selectively processes the most relevant information rather than encoding every detail possible. Both perspectives reveal that perception depends on filtering information, which allows the brain to efficiently process complex environments.
The concept of abstraction provides the strongest connection between the two articles. Baker defines abstraction as the process of modifying, removing, or adding information as visual stimuli is encoded into memory. Although Weir does not explicitly use the word “abstraction,” she discusses the concept in a much simpler manner. When attentional limitations prevent people from noticing all the information that is available, the brain relies on expectations, beliefs, and previous knowledge to fill in missing detail. Consequently, perception becomes a similar mental representation rather than a perfect replica of reality. In both works, the brain prioritizes efficiency over completeness.
Personally, both works significantly deepened my understanding of perception. Both Weir and Baker demonstrate that perception involves interpretation, selection, and simplification. Whether observing a social interaction, recognizing a familiar shape, or mentally connecting the dots in a visual display, the brain is constantly constructing meaning rather than only recording information. This realization emphasizes the strengths and weaknesses of human perception. While these cognitive processes allow individuals to function efficiently in a complex environment, they also explain why people can perceive the same situation in separate ways.
Ultimately, Weir and Baker’s research support a common conclusion: human perception is not a flawless mirror of reality, but an adaptive process shaped by attention, experience, motivation, and abstraction. Understanding these factors deepens our appreciation of the efficiency of the brain and encourages greater awareness of the bias and limitations surrounding our interpretations of the world.
Works Cited
Baker, Nicholas, and Philip J. Kellman. “Shape from Dots: A Window into Abstraction Processes in Visual Perception.” *Frontiers in Computer Science*, vol. 6, 2024, article 1367534. *Frontiers*, https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2024.1367534.
Weir, K. (2026, July 1). Is seeing believing? How we make sense of the world around us. Monitor on psychology. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2026/07-08/sensory-processing-systems
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