perception /pərsep″shən/ [L, percipere, to perceive] , 1. the conscious recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli that serve as a basis for understanding, learning, and knowing or for motivating a particular action or reaction. 2. the result or product of the act of perceiving. Kinds include depth perception, extrasensory perception, facial perception, stereognostic perception. −perceptual, perceptive, adj.
