# Perceptual Set Our perception is defined by what cognitive psychologists call a “perceptual set". Perceptual set is a tendency to perceive or notice some aspects of the available sensory data and ignore others. Perceptual set works in two ways: - The perceiver has certain expectations and focuses attention on particular aspects of the sensory data - The perceiver knows how to classify, understand and name selected data and what inferences to draw from it ## References - [Perceptual Set](http://www.simplypsychology.org/perceptual-set.html), by Saul McLeod