apperception
Americannoun
-
the attainment of full awareness of a sensation or idea
-
the act or process of apperceiving
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of apperception
First recorded in 1745–55; from French or directly from New Latin (Leibnitz) apperceptiōn-, stem of apperceptiō. See ap- 1, perception
Explanation
Apperception is how your mind puts new information in context. You get a perception of a chair through your eyes, but apperception is how your mind relates it to chairs you've seen before. We have many perceptions: information we take in through our senses, like "It's cloudy today." An apperception goes one step further by considering the perception in relation to things you’ve perceived in the past. "There's Julia" is a perception, but "Julia is my friend" is an apperception, because it's based on past experience. "My stomach hurts" is a perception, but "I might throw up" is an apperception. Apperception is a sophisticated mental process that keeps developing through our lives.
Vocabulary lists containing apperception
Flowers for Algernon
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cept, capt, ceive (take, hold, seize)
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capt, cept, ceive, List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Rorschach inkblot test was in use, as were the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, a 567-item questionnaire, and the Thematic Apperception Test, developed by the Harvard psychologist Henry Murray.
From New York Times • Oct. 14, 2022
They are taught in psychology, education and business courses, and featured in textbooks like “A Practical Guide to the Thematic Apperception Test” and “Essentials of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment.”
From Washington Post • Sep. 20, 2018
Even Henry Murray, a director of the Harvard Psychological Clinic and co-inventor of the Thematic Apperception Test , attributed his understanding of narcissism to Herman Melville, “the greatest depth psychologist America ever produced.”
From Washington Post • Sep. 20, 2018
In 1969, Mrs. Horner ran representative groups of Radcliffe students through a Thematic Apperception Test; she discovered that more than 75% "showed evidence of high fear of success."
From Time Magazine Archive
The apparatus was essentially the same as in Apperception 27, dedicated to personality analysis.
From The Brain by Blade, Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
