Selective Perception & Experiments   Research was conducted to establish the validity and the dynamics of selective perception. The following are examples of experiments and studies that demonstrate selective perception.   A well-regarded study of selective perception was conducted by Hastorf and Cantrell (1954). In this investigation they showed replays of a football game between two Ivy League schools (Princeton and Dartmouth) to selected student subjects of both schools. Newspaper accounts of this game reported that there have been considerable amount of rough play by both sides during this match, but Dartmouth was the dirtier of the two. After watching the game each student was asked to report on the number of fowls each team had committed. The results were that Dartmouth students saw the number of fouls committed by each team as equal; the Princeton students reported twice as many fouls committed by the opposition as committed by the Tigers. This study shows how information can be framed and how perception can differ between two or more subjects being exposed to the same message.   Experiments by N.R.F Maier in 1965 advanced understanding in the processes of selective perception. Participants in his experiment were shown a figure similar to this, and were asked to describe what they saw:     There were several different answers: 1. Two x's. 2. A W on top of a M. 3. One right side up V and one inverted V. 4. A diamond with its sides extended. 5. Argyle sock design. Maier's purpose for this study was to show that suggestions and expectations play a part in determining whether an individual perceives a stimulus and the ways in which it is interpreted (Maier, 1965). This experiment shows "the context within which perception takes place vitally affects the process of perception" (Foxall and Goldsmith, 1994). Selective perception is effected by both suggestion and expectation.   Another study of selective perception illustrates how one's culture can affect an individual's perception. David Kretch and Richard S. Crutchfield (1948) illustrate how two citizens of different countries might perceive a culturally-specific event differently:   "Take, for example, the perceptions of an American tourist and a native Mexican at a Mexican bull fight. The American is likely to perceive and stress the pain to the animal, the messiness of the scene, and the flies. The Mexican fan, on the other hand, might perceive and stress the skill of the performer, his daring or fearlessness, the fine technical points involved, and even the fine spirit of the bull in putting up such a good fight."   This is a good example of how two different people can perceive the same event differently. It also shows how selective perception can affect our socio-cultural views and attitudes. What is selected out for perception not only is a function of our perceiving apparatus as physiologically defined, but also a perceiving apparatus colored and shaped by our culture (Cohen, 1972).   Next