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1. Selective attention is a phenomenon that allows individuals to select and focus on a
specific input for further processing while at the same time, subduing distracting or
irrelevant information (Stevens & Bavelier, 2012). Among the people- and
environmental-related things on which people tend to focus are color, size, change, and
movement. For example, in terms of size and length, big objects tend to attract more
attention than smaller ones within the same environment. As outlined by Stefanucci and
Geuss (2009), the perception of length and size influences preexisting differences in
perceived body size.
On the other hand, colorful stimuli tend to be more attention-grabbing than white and black
stimuli. The color of an object one sees can impact not only their emotion but also perception
(Sefa, 2020). Consequently, the color and size (as well as length) of objects a person sees in their
environment will influence their responses and communication. Moreover, every written,
spoken, signed, or illustrated message is presented through a frame (What’s in a frame? n.d.).
Thus, individuals’ perception is further influenced by specific frames that they have when
viewing communication events because frames determine what a person sees and direct where
they look.
2. Schemas, prototypes, and scripts significantly affect communication because they are the
tools individuals use to organize perception in a meaningful way. A prototype defines the
most representative or the clearest example of a certain category. For example, stating
