Question

After hearing rumors about the outbreak of an infectious disease, Alyosha began to perceive his normal aches and pains as disease-related symptoms. His reaction best illustrates the impact of
A) difference thresholds.
B) sensory adaptation.
C) subliminal stimulation.
D) perceptual set.

Answer 1

Answer:

D) perceptual set.

Explanation:

Perceptive set is the term that refers to the tendency that the human being has to interpret things in only one way, or to see things in only one way. Sometimes through the specific set we relate things that should not be related, but our interpretation fails to realize this. In the perceptual set we tend to evaluate things ignoring the details and sometimes even the logic. In Alyosha's case, the perceptive set is noted when she evaluates that she is ill because she has been in pain and has an infectious disease, infecting many people in the city. The fact that Alyosha is experiencing pain does not mean that she has been infected by the disease, but the perceptive set causes her to relate her pains to the disease, ignoring details and logic.