Many adopt the transaction approach , which states that people interact with their environment in order to attain specific goals. Therefore, perception will differ from time to time depending on goals. Therefore research must address what are the goal states of the individual at the time of the study. The individual and the environment must be considered as a totality. This approach is similar to the Gestalt approach in psychology, which is based on the idea that the whole context must be taken into account in studying perception, as opposed to the piecemeal study of individual elements.
Expectations guide identification of objects in the environment.
For example if you have just watched a horror movie and are walking home alone in the dark, you may perceive sinister figures in the shadows of the dark alley ways. Brunswick's lens model of environmental perception Vast numbers of stimuli impinge upon our senses at any given point in time. Some of the cues may be useful while others may not. For example, the sight of smog may be less valid for the detection of air pollution than the density of automobiles. Yet people rely more heavily on the less valid appearance of smog.