Journal Entry #9

Journal Entry #9

Perceptual Contrast

Finally, after too many months of anticipation, it feels like spring in this area. Flowers are blooming everywhere; the birds are chirping in the tree right by my window, and the air outside is perfect. Only at this small window of time is the grass actually greener on main campus. On the route from my dorm to main campus, you have to cross a lot of concrete and a small road, a long flight of stairs going down and another going up past the valley of athletic fields. Right at the top the stairs before descending into the valley, you can see most of the campus stretched out before you, and it is beautiful. Now that the season has finally changed, the campus looks new. There is suddenly so much color everywhere after the long, drab winter.

The change from winter to spring always feels drastic to me. From the moment winter officially sets in, any jump up in temperature from day to day by about 15 degrees makes everyone feel as if the seasons have suddenly decided to change course and jump to spring. This is the case even if it is the beginning of February. This tendency becomes even more pronounced as winter continues, especially if the weather has been particularly harsh that season. People are generally so eager for this warm weather that any sign of warmer air and people are jumping out of heavy coats and into sweaters and light jackets. All the students are bubbling with excitement and it makes the whole campus come alive. I do not think I have ever seen more takeout boxes in the trashcans around campus than when it is a beautiful sunny day.

This made me think of the ways in which we perceive the transitions between other seasons. The spring-summer contrast is not so steep, as is the fall-winter one. In these seasonal transitions, the changes in the weather that take place seem much more gradual. For example, the weather in spring fluxes so that sometimes you get a few hot and humid days mixed in with the splendidly warm days. Eventually, you just stop getting the perfectly warm days and get hot and humid weather for a few months. The same goes for fall. The days get colder progressively throughout October and November, and then by December you have cold weather practically until March. We are eased into the other seasons, but when winter turns to spring, it seems so drastic. Going from winter to spring feels so different from the other progressions because I feel that because people are so tired of having the same cold weather (which keeps you inside most of the time) that any sign of coming warmth gets people moving out and about as if they have never seen the sun

It all has to do with perceptual contrast, which is the way differences between two things are exaggerated because of people’s subjective experiences of preceding events. This concept is often used to people’s advantages in everyday life, but can also be seen without others’ desires for manipulations. For instance, a five pound object will seem very light if you have just carried a 100 pound object. Perceptual contrast also has to do with the physical attractiveness of others. If you are walking through New York City and see a very attractive person walk past you and smile, and then immediately following see another person who is of average attractiveness, you will perceive that second person to be significantly less attractive than he or she is because of the object of comparison. Salespeople will use perceptual contrasts to get people to buy more at their store. The salesperson will start out by getting you to make a big purchase, and then subsequently getting you to buy accessories for that are much cheaper in comparison. A customer may feel that because they just made a very large purchase, adding on a few more extra items is alright because it is not that much more money in comparison.

Perceptual contrast relates to the winter-spring change in seasons because of the belief in the dramatic difference between cruel winters and lovely springs. People will sit for hours in the sun when spring first arrives but will spend as little time outside as possible when it is winter. The wind in winter is biting, but is coined as a “satin breeze” in the spring. The winter has mostly gray, cloudy days, but spring has more instances than you can count with blue skies.

Though it is clear that I believe that the development from winter into spring is the most severe, I wonder if this is just because my perceptions have been biased because of my upbringing. Certainly it has to do with my geographical location as well, but it would be interesting to see others’ points of view.