interpretation

interpretation as part of perception is a cognitive achievement. The interpretation is closely related to the other cognitive abilities of observation and judgment. People observe a situation, interpret the facts and then form a judgment.

What's the interpretation?

The term interpretation goes back to the Latin language and means "translation", "interpretation", "explanation". It is about the cognitive ability of understanding, perceiving and subjective interpretation. People depend on constantly observing, interpreting and judging in order to find their way around their environment, to communicate with their fellow human beings and to react accordingly.

People without mental or cognitive illnesses can master all three modes, which are closely related in many life situations. It is easy to imagine that a person who is hallucinating is not observing a situation correctly and consequently misinterpreting it and, in the final step, arrives at an incorrect judgment.

Function & task

An interpretation is always a cognitive achievement with which the perception is classified. It is therefore a mental ability. Only on the basis of observations are people able to interpret facts and come to a judgment.

The exchange of views can be very lively, especially when it comes to socially sensitive topics such as politics or religion, because everyone interprets these topics differently. The person who finds interlocutors who share his opinion is in a pleasant situation, since communication is less difficult. In the case of different interpretations, a difference of opinion quickly leads to dissent. In this situation it becomes clear that each participant interprets and evaluates the observations he has made on this topic differently.

Since it is a subjective sensory performance, most people assume that they are right themselves. They see their view of things as true and assume that the others have observed, interpreted and judged the facts incorrectly. A conscious separation of the three modes of observation, interpretation and judgment is not made, they flow into one another.

In order to reach consensus, it is important that everyone involved has the same information. For example, if a man accuses his wife of no longer loving him, but does not tell her why he thinks so, she cannot respond adequately to his accusation, as she does not know the reason for accepting him. The day before, the man saw the woman in the company of an unknown man in a restaurant and observed that the two are very familiar.

Based on this observation, he has interpreted the situation to mean that his wife is cheating on him with the other man and is of the opinion that she no longer loves him. To resolve her husband's interpretation, the wife has to ask why her husband thinks this way. If they have the appropriate information, they can resolve the situation. Your husband knows that he misinterpreted the situation he was observing and therefore came to a wrong judgment.

Problem solving can be very simple based on a quick-witted response. It often happens, however, that people get angry about the interpretation and opinion of their fellow human beings and get involved in an argument too quickly.

However, there are also things that cannot be the subject of an interpretation because they are fixed facts. 1 + 1 always equals 2. The jurisprudence states that it is forbidden to steal from other people. Those who do not comply face legal sanctions such as fines or imprisonment. The dissident cannot plead that he interpreted this law differently and therefore acted legally.

In contrast, works of art, for example, are freely accessible to a large extent for interpretation. Every person interprets a painter's picture and his statement differently, it is a subjective sensation.

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Illnesses & ailments

People who suffer from impaired sensory perception cannot properly process external sensory impressions in the central nervous system. A malfunction occurs when the connection between the individual sensory systems is restricted or no longer functions. The people affected are no longer able to orient themselves correctly in their environment and to communicate with their fellow human beings.

If a person suffers from perceptual disorders, it is only possible to a limited extent to correctly observe, interpret and judge facts and to show appropriate behavior. Perceptual errors can occur due to a physical or mental illness, such as dementia, depression, headache or fatigue, but also due to the social environment that expects certain behavior patterns.

If a person attracts attention through deviant behavior because he interprets a situation differently than expected from his social environment, he usually attracts negative attention. The individual interpretation, however, is only one of several possible interpretations that follow an observation. On the other hand, those who always regard their own interpretation as the one true one often cause arguments with their fellow men.

The realization that perceptions can also be interpreted in other ways enables people to understand and accept differing opinions.