What is Perception?
Perception is how the brain categorizes sensory information using past experience, connections to things it already knows, and environmental clues to understand its environment. A good example of how perception works is by taking a look at the Rubin Vase. When you do, you will likely perceive it as a vase. Primarily because you were told it was a vase and your brain knows what a vase is. But also the texture, material and shape all look like other vases you’ve seen. Your brain takes into account these things and you see the vase.
But what if you were told that what you were really looking at were faces? A few blinks and you would likely see the two faces, in profile, each facing the vase on their respective sides. You were told “faces” and your brain immediate began to recategorize the vase to see if it could be something else. This is a simple example of perception, one you’ve probably seen before.