Jun 16, 2011 12:05 GMT  ·  By
Perception is an actively-changing state of mind, which includes two types of processes
   Perception is an actively-changing state of mind, which includes two types of processes

Researchers have discovered in a new study that people who are actively trying to get an overview of a situation tend to have a harder time grasping the intricate correlations that form between specific objects or individuals involved in that situation.

For example, when viewing an array of items, the brain can either perceive a detailed image of each single object, or get a clear overview of the entire scene, but never both at the same time, experts say.

Discerning detailed facts becomes very difficult for the human mind, when it needs to focus on an overall view. Researchers have always known that the way the brain changes over time is directly controlled by the experiences it goes through on a daily basis.

Each of these events causes neural networks in the brain to snap loose, and new ones to form, but in a different layout. This adaptivity we display to the environment is one of the keys to our evolutionary success, scientists believe,

But th brain does have its limitations, and one of them is the fact that the two levels of perception the researchers studied appear to be mutually-exclusive. Small-scale and overview perceptions can only function one at a time, PsychCentral reports.

According to Princeton University expert Nicholas Turk-Browne, PhD, it would appear that the two types of perception are indeed related, if not by anything else then by statistics. The expert was the leader of the team that carried out the new investigation.

Details of the new research will appear in an upcoming issue of the Association for Psychological Science journal Psychological Science.

The first type of perception, Turk-Browne explains, is called statistical summary perception, and its job is to provide people with as much data about an object or a situation at a single glance.

The second one is called statistical learning, and it mainly deals with learning how to see patterns in your surroundings over the long-term. “After seeing the front of the psychology building at Princeton, you’re much more likely to see my face than the face of your favorite actor,” Turk-Browne explains.

“Even though these two cognitive processes are different, they’re both inherently statistical,” he adds.

“Every moment your eyes are open, your brain is changing in sophisticated ways. What’s cool about this study is that it demonstrates that your mind is a great statistician, and you don’t even realize it,” Turk-Browne concludes.