Perception Modeling – An Insight

Perception is something which every individual has to deal with in his personal and professional world. Word perception has many different detailed interpretations. In this article , I am trying to analyze what is perception modeling for an individual and how do we come up with perception.

Human mind always prefers certainty and predictability for the simple reason it helps create a secure environment for the mind to operate. Human mind always models unknown which includes event , behavior , objects and anything which is unknown or unpredictable for mind. This model is what is reflected as perception. When you are planning to meet someone whom you haven’t met earlier , your mind always builds models on the persons looks and behavior depending on a plethora of factors. In fact , this model helps us to get prepared to deal with an event , person or object. For everything which is certain we don’t have perceptions just because of its predictability. Mind does not model how your car looks like because it know with certainty how it looks , but it models behavior of the car during a long drive which is unknown. For example , for a professional who goes to meet a potential customer , perception model helps in modeling the unknown customer and be prepared for the business pitch he has to make.

Now that we understand perception is a complex modeling done by our mind , let us see few factors which helps mind to model the same. Mind creates perception model based on inputs from eye , ear , nose , skin and memory. In simple terms , what we see , hear , feel or remember influences perception model. Human mind gives weightage to each of the inputs and comes up with perception model for each unknowns. When we hear something about an unknown person or when we see something related to the unknown person , human mind uses weightage to each of the inputs and processes it. For example , when an employee is assigned a new manager , employee comes up with a perception model of manager based on what he hear from his colleagues , social media profile of the manager which is available to see and so on.

Based on my experience , there are broadly two factors which makes perception modeling different from one person to another even if they are exposed to same external factors – Memory and Weightage to inputs. Human memory plays a vital role in providing inputs to model perception in the absence of any valid inputs. When we meet a complete stranger whom we haven’t interacted at all , mind come up with model based on memories of similar situation in the past. Weightage is applied to every input which builds perception and it changes depending on trust , relationship and duration of exposure. Whatever we hear from a person whom we trust or have a relationship , always score higher weightage. What we hear from even an lesser trustful source over a long period of time creates a higher weightage over a period of time. For example , based on discussion with industry experts in recruitment , feedback is those candidates who are referred by internal employees are approached much more positively with a strong positive bias to hire by interviewers because of perception model weightage given to what interviewers heard from trusted internal employees.

Through carefully influencing the inputs which affects perception , companies and individuals can create a perception about themselves within their target audience. This is done by careful selective dissemination of data through visual , audio channels which affects the inputs which creates perception. Companies go an extent further to ensure this data is disseminated through a celebrity/person whom we have higher trust/relationship to get a higher weightage for their data. Perception model building is also a part of what companies called branding.

There is nothing called good or bad perception. It all depends on what human mind models to create an predictable environment for itself to operate. Perception modeling helps us to prepare for a situation or react to an unknown behavior. Awareness about the existence of perception model is important for any individual to take right decisions at the right time.