The Role of Nature in Perceptual Development in Man - Essay Example

The Role of Nature in Perceptual Development in Man The cerebral cortex – the seat of processing of all types of stimuli. This is the part of the human brain that allows man higher intellectual and analytic functions compared to animals – perception. “Perception begins where sensation ends”.1 In fact, many psychological studies agree that perception is what largely separates humans from animals. In the same way, perception is what separates each individual human being from each other. Each day, a human being is bombarded by unbelievable simultaneous stimuli from external sources.2 These external sources are powered by all types of activities of nature – visual stimuli provided by the spectrum from a single ray of light thus reflecting all types of colors, sizes, shapes and distance; auditory stimuli via sounds of nature and the environment; olfactory stimuli owing to millions of chemical reactions; tactile stimuli given by various natural conditions such as snow, fire or the lack of proximity between the sensory organ and an object in nature; and taste stimuli from various chemical combinations and products of nature (fruits, vegetables, animals). Nerves connected to the sensory organs in the human body collect these information and pool them into the cerebral cortex for processing, or what is known as perception. As presented above, the function of the cerebral cortex as a processor of external information (stimuli), has obviously been patterned to analyze activities in nature. ______________________ 1 Valdes, J., Sensation and Perception, An Introduction to Psychology, Florida International University, 2003, p.2. 2 Ibid. In relation to this, as seen by the Gestalt Psychology (a school of psychology that interprets phenomena as organized wholes rather than as aggregates of distinct parts, maintaining that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts3), perception is an activity of the human brain with the sole purpose of interpreting information around the person. However, despite this, various studies have challenged this theory. In the study of Ione Fine, et. Al. on long-term deprivation and its effects on visual perception and cortex, a subject who was half-blinded at age 3 years old was subjected into surgery to restore his sight. At first, a few months after surgery, the subject perceived slight changes in the orientation common shapes, identified colors and his equiluminance settings were normal.4 However, the subject has difficulty with 3D stimuli – which, as discussed extensively in various psychological studies, is a perception that most human beings are gifted with as compared with most animals. There were numerous other defects noted. In another study, by RA Jacobs, it was discovered that a variety of factors seems to affect learning, including the number of perceptual dimensions relevant to the task, external noise, familiarity, and task complexity.5 Warren G. Darling and Robert Bartelt, in their study on the visual perception coordinate system using axes defined by the Earth, trunk, and vision, it was concluded that the visual perceptual coordinate system uses internally specified vertical and, when ___________________ 3 Introduction to Sensation and Perception, AllPsych and Heather Media Group, March 21, 2004, http://allpsych.com/psychology101/perception.html. 4 Fine, I., et.al., Long term deprivation affects visual perception and cortex, Nature Neuroscience, Volume 6, Number 9, Nature Publishing Group, September, 2003, p. 915. 5 Jacobs, R.A. & Fine, I., Comparing perceptual learning tasks: a review. Department of Psychology, University of California, La Jolla, CA, USA, 2003, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12678592&query_hl=3 when available, a visually specified horizontal reference axis to define object orientation.6 Man by nature is a conglomerate of various developmental tasks. Among these tasks is the development of perceptual abilities. As presented in the various attempts at depriving the sense of sight, various deficiencies were recorded as altering the normal process of development of the visual perception abilities. In the study comparing the effects of auditory deprivation and sign language within the auditory and visual cortex by Finney, et.al., the auditory cortex recorded the largest affected area rather than the visual cortex, thereby suggesting that controlled deprivation leads to the mal-development of the various areas of perceptual abilities.7 Man has been equipped with the system that allows him to learn while developing. The amount of information fed to a human brain through the millions of simultaneous stimuli gathered by the sensory organs and interpreted by the cortex (perception). These learning experiences enables man from childbirth to maturity develop various aspects of his personhood. Learning has been defined as a “form of ____________________ 6 Darling, W.G. & Bartlet, R., The visual perception coordinate system uses axes defined by the Earth, trunk, and vision, Received 23 April 2003, in revised form 23 April 2004; published online 12 January 2005, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez. 7 Finney, E.M., et. al., Comparing the Effects of Auditory Deprivation and Sign Language within the Auditory and Visual Cortex, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 2004, , http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez. adaptation, mode of adjustment, and a change in behavior.” 8 This dynamic stage is described as the “mental activities by means of which knowledge and skills, habits, attitudes and ideals are required, attained, retained, and utilized resulting in the progressive adaptation and modification of behavior.”9 All vehicles of learning attest to the reliance to stimuli as the primary source of developing cognitive functions such as language, motor skills, deduction and analytical skills. Such are the products of rational learning (involving higher interpretation of perceptions using judgment and reasoning); motor learning in relation to the perceptions of sight (distance, shape, etc.), balance (brought about by tactile and auditory perceptions and sensory organs) and its combination with physical development; associational learning (involving the development of associative patterns by which ideas and experiences are retained, recalled, and recognized through the process of linking together or establishing relationships between and among these ideas and experiences so that one will serve as the stimulus for the revival and recall of the other or others previously experienced10); and appreciational learning, or the end-product of higher interpretations of stimuli and perceptions of activities and things around man. In learning, the following laws are observed: the law of readiness, the law of exercise and the law of effect. On the law of exercise, two principles would focus on _______________________ 8 Bugelski, B. R., The Psychology of Learning, New York: Mc Graw-Hill Book and Co., 1986, p. 129. 9 Ibid. 10 Sanchez, C. A., et.al., General Psychology, 4th Ed., Philippines: Rex Book Store, 2003, p. 134. putting substance into the rationale that nature plays a very important role in the perceptual development of man: the law of use and the law of disuse. These two principles asserts the importance of man’s associations with his surroundings. This is also confirmed by the Law of Use and Disuse by Gates, the Law of Frequency and Recency by Watson, the Law of Association by Kant and the Law of Apperception by Herbart.11 In dissecting the argument on whether nature plays an important role in the development of perceptual abilities in man, the normal development pattern of these perceptual abilities must be identified: there must be a traceable exhibit of a balanced ability to perceive things. This means that part of the cortex must be equally developed through continued stimuli. An example is an athlete – in order to develop and train to win, he must exercise not only one part of his anatomy, but rather, take into consideration each aspect as a contributing factor to attaining the strength desired to win. The athlete not only trains his speed or strength by physical training, but also conditions his mind on the task at hand. Failure to achieve this balance would mean: 1. overdevelopment of one part of the cortex, 2. deficiency in recognizing sensory information, and 3. malfunction of various areas of the cortex. Deprivation or alteration of what is otherwise known as natural stimuli may result to disorders of perceptions like schizophrenia, mania, delirium, metabolic and __________________________ 11 ibid., pp. 135-136. endocrinal disorders, epilepsy, brain tumors. These are common in institutionalized children. Children from Eastern European maternity hospitals, orphanages, institutions for the irrecuperable or street children, who have been deprived of a normal environment for development (e.g. a caring hug from a loving parent, a gentle voice from a mother, a loving kiss from a father, or the more objective stimuli such as exposure to nature, colors, society, outdoors, etc.) exhibit the following disabilities: EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTURBANCES such as aggressive or passive behavior, autistic-like behavior, and attachment/bonding issues; DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS AND LEARNING DISABILITIES such as hyperactivity, expressive, receptive and articulation language disorders and cognitive disorders.12 These deprivation-induced characteristics exhibit the relationship of man to his surroundings: nature and his environment. To further illustrate this unique relationship, the Darwinian theory of evolution has depicted man as an evolutionary being adapting to the state of nature around him. This is the earliest-known record of man’s relationship to nature. This is also supported by Gestalt Psychology, which interprets the phenomena of learning or any other phenomena as organized wholes rather than as aggregates of distinct parts, maintaining that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Therefore, man, in his developmental stages is in constant relationship with _________________________ 12 Yuksel, F.V., et.al., The Long Term Effects of Institutionalization on the Behavior of Children From Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union , Maria's Children, Copyright 1999-2005, http://www.mariaschildren.org/english/babyhouse/effects.html nature, as pointed out in the Darwinian principle of interconnectivity of each member of the earth. To deprive man of his natural habitat or the normal dealings and activities fed by each aspect of the environment would ultimately lead to a dysfunction of particular areas in man’s perceptual development. Relating to Darwin’s theory of the relationship of man and this world, the above-mentioned situation would alter man’s ability to survive, adapt and behave in this fast-changing world. Nature, as well as man, will always hold a dynamic relationship inherent to each other’s development and destruction –this, in relation to perception. B I B L I O G R A P H Y Books Bugelski, B. R., The Psychology of Learning, New York: Mc Graw-Hill Book and Co., 1986, p. 129. Valdes, J., Sensation and Perception, An Introduction to Psychology, Florida International University, 2003, p.2. Fine, I., et.al., Long term deprivation affects visual perception and cortex, Nature Neuroscience, Volume 6, Number 9, Nature Publishing Group, September, 2003, p. 915. Sanchez, C. A., et.al., General Psychology, 4th Ed., Philippines: Rex Book Store, 2003, p. 134. Internet Darling, W.G. & Bartlet, R., The visual perception coordinate system uses axes defined by the Earth, trunk, and vision, Received 23 April 2003, in revised form 23 April 2004; published online 12 January 2005, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez. Finney, E.M., et. al., Comparing the Effects of Auditory Deprivation and Sign Language within the Auditory and Visual Cortex, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 2004, , http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez. Introduction to Sensation and Perception, AllPsych and Heather Media Group, March 21, 2004, http://allpsych.com/psychology101/perception.html. Jacobs, R.A. & Fine, I., Comparing perceptual learning tasks: a review. Department of Psychology, University of California, La Jolla, CA, USA, 2003, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_ uids=12678592&query_hl=3 Yuksel, F.V., et.al., The Long Term Effects of Institutionalization on the Behavior of Children From Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union , Maria's Children, Copyright 1999-2005, http://www.mariaschildren.org/english/babyhouse/effects.html Read More