What Is a Perception Test?

Perception references how individuals understand and view a stimulus or an event. As such, a perception test measures an individual’s understanding or responsiveness to different things. Many types of perception exist, and most have at least one available test. These may include sensory perception tests, cultural or worldview perception tests, and self-perception tests. Many medical tests measure sensory perception such as visual perception and auditory perception.

A visual perception test may be psychological or medical in nature. For example, the Rorschach test measures aspects of personality by presenting vague inkblots. An individual’s interpretation and perception of what objects are presented in the inkblot can help psychiatrists better understand a patient’s inner thoughts and beliefs. Since perception itself is often based on inferences and assumptions rather than hard facts, psychology perception tests are considered subjective rather than objective in nature.

More medical-based tests such as the Developmental Test of Visual Perception and the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills might evaluate potential sight abnormalities by measuring depth perception, color recognition, and similar visual factors. Pictures may be used for many of these tasks. The individual might also be asked to manipulate objects and demonstrate concepts like spatial orientation.

Similar perception tests may measure other sensory perception abilities. Auditory perception discrimination tests like the Developmental Test of Auditory Perception give an idea of how well individuals can perceive different types of sounds and the noise level of sounds. Further, individuals can be presented with various stimuli in order to detect deficiencies in taste, smell, or touch perception. Some advocates even allege that a perception test can be made that will reportedly measure the extraordinary sensory and perceptual gifts that allegedly underlie psychic ability and related areas.

The perception test may have a wide range of applications beyond the medical world. For example, corporations or politicians may use measures of public perception to change their images. In turn, advertisers and marketers might implement tools like focus groups for gauging consumer perception of a product. Surveys and other perception measures could even inform government policies.

Tests may be presented in various ways, and a perception test is no exception. Traditional written tests, for example, could measure how an individual perceives himself or herself by asking various questions. Responses would then be tabulated and categorized on a scale. Sensory tests, on the other hand, might measure auditory perception or visual perception by presenting pictures and sounds, respectively. Responses to these stimuli are then cataloged and evaluated.