Perceptual Processes I: Competition of Cues

Abstract

One of the most fundamental assumptions of this book is that the perceptual process required for the encoding of internal sensory information represents the same processes that have traditionally been implicated in the perception of external environmental events. In other words, factors that have been shown to influence the perception of auditory or visual information should also influence the perception of physical symptoms. Within this chapter, a brief overview of perceptual processes will be presented. The distinctions among orienting (or competition of cues), biased encoding, and inference will be discussed. The remainder of the chapter will be devoted to the initial part of the perceptual process: orienting. The studies that are presented deal with such questions as, In what settings will one be most likely to notice symptoms? What are the internal and external stimulus characteristics that influenceihe initial processing of sensory information? At what level is sensory information processed (i.e., is conscious processing necessary)?