Perceptual set is a psychological term that describes our tendency to perceive some aspects of sensory data and ignore others. It's influenced by our expectations, emotions, and cultural upbringing.
Perceptual set theory suggests that our expectations, motivations, emotions, and culture can influence what we perceive. It's grounded in cognitive psychology, emphasizing top-down processing in perception.
Bruner and Minturn (1955) demonstrated perceptual set with ambiguous figures where subjects' perception was biased by previous images. Other studies show context, emotions, and expectations significantly shape perception.