| Book Edition | 9th Edition |
| Author(s) | Rider, Sigelman |
| ISBN | 9781337100731 |
| Publisher | Cengage Learning |
| Subject | Psychology |
What do you see when you look at this object? According to the constructivist theory of perception, you use past experiences to construct an understanding of what this object might be.
The initial thoughts on a particular object are determined by one's past experiences as well as by the information presently available.
The perception of an object comes from past experiences according to the constructivist theory. For instance, people associated with marine life could conceive a particular image as one that represents some plant or animal found in the sea. It can also be a plant that shines during the night. The brain develops according to the experiences and learnings it acquires over time. An association between what is seen and what is interpreted is developed with experience. This explains the different perceptions of a single object or image as in this case.
According to constructivist theory, an individual perceives things through their experiences in the past. Perception comes from learning behavior. For instance, for an individual who has studied microbiology, a particular image could mean the mycelium [body] of a fungus with a sporangiophore [spore producing structure] on the top.