chapter 1 observation summary

Chapter 1 Observation Skills



In this chapter observation skill is described as a process of Sensing, Perceiving and thinking. When you can slow down sufficiently to experience the operation of your own sensing, then you can begin to use each faculty with more skill.

Jean Piaget’s definition of thinking as an “active process whereby people organize their perception of the world” at one point Piaget describes this process as involving both assimilation and accommodation. When we cannot grasp a new idea or make it fit with what we already know, we feel discomfort or what Paiget called disequilibrium.

People who have a preference for sensing are immersed in the ongoing richness of sensory experience and thus seem more grounded in everyday physical reality. They tend to be concerned with what is actual, present, current, and real. As they exercise their preference for sensing, they approach situations with an eye to the facts. Thus, they often develop a good memory for detail, become accurate in working with data, and remember facts or aspects of events that did not even seem relevant at the time they occurred.Sensing types are often good at seeing the practical applications of ideas and things, and may learn best when they can first see the pragmatic side of what is being taught. For sensing types, experience speaks louder than words or theory.

Perception is the process by which we receive and interpret information from the world around us. The world around us consists of various kinds and levels of physical energy. Our knowledge of the world comes through our sense organs, which react to these energies.

Various factors influence what and how we perceive. Our perceptions are influenced by the ways our bodies are structured to receive and process stimuli from the environment. Our perceptions also reflect our emotions, needs, expectations, and learning.