Sense Perception

How, and to what extent, might expectations, assumptions and beliefs affect sense perceptions? How, if at all, can factors that bias our views of the world be identified?

Sense perception comesentirely from our own minds, and as such can be affected by expectations, assumptions and beliefs. As was said in the packet, while our eyes or ears or nerves pick up whatever we sense, the cycleultimately ends in the brain processing this information. This is why while bias can affect our logic; it can also affect our senses. An example of this (although to a small extent) is when someone bringsup a repugnant topic during a meal; while our meal has not changed in the slightest by this topic being brought up, it suddenly loses appeal now that our minds are thinking of whatever wasinappropriately brought up.
Another example is the placebo effect. This states that when someone expects a certain result, usually from a drug, they often believe it did happen, regardless of whether or notthey were actually given the working drug and not a sugar pill. They are not told which they are given, and often times even those who were not given the drugs report they feel changes, althoughnothing has really changed. These tend to be minor though, a feeling that would otherwise have been ignored hyped up in the belief that they were given the drug.
These false perceptions are difficult ifnot impossible to be identified by others since they occur entirely in the mind. Precautions can be taken into preventing any actions fueled by bias or expectations, such as a jury member who is seento be biased towards one side being dismissed, or the implementation of a placebo group to see if a drug is actually working compared to those who are not given one. As for the person themselves, Ibelieve they know at some deep level if they are being swayed by expectations or bias. While someone chooses to ignore or deny it, at some point they realize that their senses or actions are being...