Interpretation

Examples of Interpretation in the following topics:

• Interpretation

  • In the interpretation stage of perception, we attach meaning to stimuli.
  • Each stimulus or group of stimuli can be interpreted in many different ways.
  • Our interpretations are subjective and based on personal factors.
  • That is their interpretation of the stimulus (a raised hand).
  • If I believe myself to be an attractive person, I might interpret stares from strangers (stimulus) as admiration (interpretation).

• Introducing the Perception Process

  • Our perceptions are based on how we interpret all these different sensations, which are sensory impressions we get from the stimuli in the world around us.
  • Our brains engage in a three-step process when presented with stimuli: selection, organization, and interpretation.
  • The perceptual process is a sequence of steps that begins with stimuli in the environment and ends with our interpretation of those stimuli.
  • Interpretation simply means that we take the information that we have sensed and organized and turn it into something that we can categorize.
  • For instance, in the Rubin's Vase illusion mentioned earlier, some individuals will interpret the sensory information as "vase," while some will interpret it as "faces."

• Understanding Concepts

  • Framing and categorization help us interpret, understand, and utilize concepts through accessible context and organization.
  • A frame is a context for understanding or interpretation.
  • Individuals constantly project into the world around them the interpretive frames that allow them to make sense of the world.
  • Each person's frame is a set of interpretations, a collection of anecdotes and stereotypes, that they rely on to understand and respond to the world around them.
  • When we encounter something that does not easily fit into a pre-existing category, we become uncomfortable and unsure of how to interpret this new information.

• Schachter–Singer Theory of Emotion (Two-Factor Theory)

  • More specifically, this theory claims that physiological arousal is cognitively interpreted within the context of each situation, which ultimately produces the emotional experience.
  • These cognitive interpretations—how a person labels and understands what they are experiencing—are formed based on the person's past experiences.
  • Rather, the interpretation of a certain emotion depends on both the individual's physiological state as well as their circumstances, a relationship mediated by cognitive processing.

• Appraisal Theory of Emotion

  • According to appraisal theory, our interpretation of a situation causes an emotional response that is based on that interpretation.
  • The appraisal theory of emotion, developed primarily through the work of prominent researchers Magda Arnold and Richard Lazarus, proposes that emotions are extracted from our "appraisals" (i.e., our evaluations, interpretations, and explanations) of events.
  • Lazarus argued that the cognitive activity involved in interpreting emotional context could be conscious or unconscious and may or may not take the form of conceptual processing.

• Unconscious Perception

  • The brain takes in these unnoticed signals and interprets them in ways that influence how individuals respond to their environment.
  • When information from an initial stimulus enters the brain, neural pathways associated with that stimulus are activated, and a second stimulus is interpreted through that specific context.
  • When information from an initial stimulus enters the brain, neural pathways associated with that stimulus are activated, and the stimulus is interpreted in a specific manner.

• Heuristics and Cognitive Biases

  • When interpreting data, a researcher must avoid cognitive bias and be aware of the use of heuristics to avoid drawing incorrect conclusions.
  • Once data has been gathered, the researcher must analyze and interpret it.
  • Although sometimes this assumption may accurately reflect the data (results do frequently replicate across studies), sometimes this bias can lead the researcher to exclude other, valid interpretations.
  • The confirmation bias leads to the tendency to search for, or interpret, information in a way that confirms one's existing beliefs.
  • Explain the heuristics and cognitive biases that can impact a researcher's interpretation of data

• Social Perception

  • Broadly defined, perception is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the environment from which the information is received.
  • This type of perception is processed through social cognition, or a thought process used to understand and interpret social interactions.
  • These judgments are primarily based on observation, although pre-existing knowledge influences how observed information is interpreted.
  • They help to interpret other's actions so that additional information can be quickly inferred in order to predict behavior.

• Additional Sensory Systems

  • Two additional sensory systems are proprioception (which interprets body position) and the vestibular system (which interprets balance).

• Descriptive and Correlational Statistics

  • Descriptive and correlational statistics help interpret the relationship, or relatedness, between observable variables.
  • This could be interpreted to imply that the more alcohol that people consume, the more depressed they become.
  • However, it could also be interpreted to imply that the more depressed people become, the more likely they are to consume alcohol.