Final answer:
Perception is influenced by internal factors including A) a person's needs and expectations, beliefs and experiences, and mood. These factors shape how we process and interpret sensory information, as well as how our attitudes and social behaviors influence our perceptions of the world around us.
Step-by-step explanation:
Perception depends on various internal factors such as a person's needs and expectations, a person's beliefs and experiences, and a person's mood. These elements significantly influence our perceptual processes and how we interpret sensory information. For instance, a person with certain needs may perceive objects and situations in light of fulfilling those needs, a process known as top-down processing.
Similarly, beliefs and experiences can form a perceptual set, which biases how we receive and interpret new information based on past experiences. Moreover, our mood can color our perceptions, sometimes leading to a more optimistic or pessimistic interpretation of the surroundings.
Our attitudes, which are our evaluations or feelings toward a person, idea, or object, can also play a significant role in how we perceive the world. They can be shaped by factors such as cognitive dissonance, the need to reduce tension from conflicting thoughts and behaviors, as well as external influences like social norms and advertising. Furthermore, our social interactions and the presence of others can lead to conformity, compliance, and sometimes even prejudice and discrimination, all of which can skew our perception.