ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with some of the processes and mechanisms through which humans interpret their environment. Knowledge of these processes is essential in order to understand the characteristic ways in which we think and behave. The chapter first describes the process of perception relating to objects, events, and other people. Given the wide variety of competing stimuli in the environment, the process of attention is considered in relation to why particular stimuli draw attention and others are ignored (selective attention) and how attention is maintained over time (sustained attention). The ways in which stimuli are interpreted also affects how we understand why events occur (attribution) and how we are compelled to act (motivation). Implications for designing safer environments and motivating people to behave safely are considered throughout the chapter.
