Running head: perception process

Perceptions and Relationships in Picking Cotton

Timira Ray
University of Kentucky

perception process

2
Abstract

Perception is a very rare process people think you have, but do everyday of your life. It is the
thought process people have that gets them through the day. In this essay, you will know and
understand the perception process. You will understand why Jennifer Thompson accused Ronald
Cotton of raping her. The essay explains on how she came to that conclusion. You will
understand how Jennifer communicated with Ronald after the case was closed and how they
were able to continue to communicate. The essay also explains the way Jennifer and Ronald
handled the outsiders and themselves during this time.

perception process

How does perception work? Why do we perceive things different then others? Perception
is the state of being or process of becoming aware of something through your senses (Witt &
Brockmole, 2012). Sometimes, perception of other people and ourselves are the same while
sometimes our perception of the other people and ourselves is different. Our perception becomes
our logic and what we really believe. What you or I may see, hear, think, touch, or feel maybe
totally the same or total opposites due to our perceptions that are already developed. The
perception process can assume situations, people, and relationships because of our own
limitations.
In 1984, Ronald Cotton, an African-American male, was accused of raping Jennifer
Thompson, a Caucasian female, at her home in the middle of the night with no evidence to prove
it. Police only had Jennifers statement and her perceived witness identification (Thompson &
Cotton, 2009). Can you image being accused and sent to jail for a crime you did not commit,
because of the color of your skin?
Our brain selects some of the information it receives from our senses, organizes the
information, and interprets it. Jennifer had no clue who raped her. It was the middle of the night
so she could only see and remember the clothes he was wearing, the sound of his voice, and
knew he was African American. Jennifers attention and selection were focused on everything
she could see and hear, because thats all she could concentrate on based on her needs, interests,
and expectations. We, as humans, hit and miss more than we think we should, because we arent
expecting whats happening or coming. During the trial, Jennifer could only remember patterns
from the beginning of the day until the rapist left her house.
Jennifers interpretation of Ronald after she accused him of raping her was that he was a
sick and twisted man who needed to die in jail. Once he was proven innocent, she was terrified

perception process

he was going to come after her for taking eleven years of his life away. After Ronald was
released, it took so much out of her to meet him. Jennifer realized after meeting Ronald he was a
very sweet and kind man. She couldnt believe how forgiving he was.
Jennifers perception of herself after the rape was that she was hopeless and needy. She
didnt know who she was or didnt believe she was Jennifer Thompson anymore. She couldnt
believe she let someone take advantage of her and not being able to do something about it.
As the trial continued, Jennifers boyfriend couldnt stay with Jennifer during this time
because of how needy and hopeless she got. He began to make her think it was her fault that she
got raped based on the clothes she had on that night. Jennifers self-esteem went down because
she believed everyone looked at her different and in a nasty way.
Jennifer self-talked her way out of her life and back in it. She realized that she had no
control of what happen to her that night. She knew she couldnt feel bad for herself anymore.
Changes had to be made so she could get through life without any stress. After she met Ronald,
she was relieved that the right man was behind bars and the wrong one was set free.
In the 1900s, prejudice was an issue, so you could say the perception of Africans
Americans was unfair. Prejudice is the preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual
experience. Prejudice can lead to discrimination, which is acting differently toward a person
based on race, and that is what happen to Ronald Cotton (Miller, 2010).
Ronald Cotton was accused of a crime, because of the clothes he had on and the color of
his skin. When he turned himself in to the police, he never really got a chance to tell his side of
the story. Yes, he may have gotten his days confused, but there was no evidence to prove that he
committed the crime. In the officers eyes, he was an African American male who raped a poor,

perception process

innocent female in the middle of the night with a weapon. The only lead they had was Jennifer
Thompson pointing Ronald Cotton out in a lineup.
There are many ways to accurately construct impressions of others and your own
perception of others messages. First, you want to question the accuracy of your perception.
When you think youve seen, heard, smelled, or tasted something you could ask yourself, Could
I be wrong? We look over information that we could process, because once we have made up
our mind we are done. You want to gather as much information as you can, so you dont perceive
wrong. Jennifer had her mind set on Ronald. No one else could have raped her but Ronald. She
didnt want to be the girl who got raped and had no clue who did it. When she found out that
Ronald Cotton didnt rape her and it was Bobby Poole, she couldnt believe that she was wrong.
Yes, I can understand that Ronald and Bobby looked very similar, but you want to make sure you
are positive in your decision.
Second, you can get to know people before you judge them. Everyone knows the saying,
Dont judge a books by its cover. You dont want to process this image about someone by the
way they dress or how they talk. The more you pay attention to someone, the more you to know
of that person. The more detail you have of someone, the more you understand who they are and
the more accurate your perception will be. Ronald was judged and perceived as the rapist,
because of the clothes he had on and story was not correct.
Third, when I say more detail I mean dont just find out that the person likes dogs and
listens to music. Find out what kind of dogs and what kind of music. You want to receive as
much information as you can. I believe the police should have gotten more details and evidence
from the crime scene before arresting Ronald.

perception process

Fourth, your perception is going to change over time. Someone in your past might make
their way into your life today and you dont want your perception of the past be the same
perception of them now. Let their current behavior inform your perception. Say for example, my
little brother who was horrible in middle school has grown up and matured, but do you think his
middle school teachers think so? Absolutely not. They still perceive my brother as the disruptive
student in class until proven wrong. That is when their current perception would change.
Lastly, you can do a perception check. A perception check is a good tool to help you
understand others accurately instead of jumping to conclusions or assuming that your first
interpretation is the correct one. It consists of the following three parts: you describe what you
observed, you offer two possible interpretations of it, and then you ask for clarification.
Jennifer and Ronald had an interpersonal relationship. An interpersonal relationship is a
social association, connection, and affiliations between two or more people. Jennifer was the
woman you got raped and Ronald was accused of being the rapist. Both of them had to deal with
people judging and looking down at them for what happen.
When they first met you would call their conversations impersonal communication.
Impersonal communication is a type of interaction that is based on specifically on social roles.
Jennifer and Ronald only discussed the case and Ronalds life in prison. The conversations began
to get personal the more they communicated.
In conclusion, perception is the state of being or process of becoming aware of something
through your senses (Witt & Brockmole, 2012). Dont judge someone by one or two details
about themselves. Get to know or learn more before you create your perception of them or it.
Your perception should change as time goes by. Do not have the same perception of someone as
when they were in high school and now graduating college.

perception process

References
Anemona, H. (2016, February 6) Yale educator recounts painful experience of Halloween email
furor. New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/education/educator-recounts-painful-experience-ofhalloween-email-furor-at-yale.html?ref=topics&_r=0

Jennifer, T., Ronald, C., & Erin, T. (2009). Picking Cotton. New York, NY: St. Martins Press.

Jennifer, T., Ronald, C., & Erin, T. (2009). Picking Cotton. Retrieved from
http://www.pickingcottonbook.com/about.html

Miller, C. (2010). CIS 110 Composition and Communication I. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Witt, J. K., & Brockmole, J. R. (2012, April 16). Action alters object identification:
Wielding a gin increases the bias to see guns. Journal of Experimental Psychology:
Human Perception and Performance, 8. doi: 10.1037/a0027881