Perception Process PDF

Perception Process Perception---active process of creating meaning by selecting, organizing, and interpreting people, objects, events, situations and other phenomena. Process of perception involves 3 steps (often happens simultaneously) 1. Selection 2. Organization 3. Interpretation SELE...

Perception Process Perception---active process of creating meaning by selecting, organizing, and interpreting people, objects, events, situations and other phenomena. Process of perception involves 3 steps (often happens simultaneously) 1. Selection 2. Organization 3. Interpretation SELECTION (giving our attention to stimuli) -things that stand out -indicating (noticing things we didn’t notice before because we now have new knowledge, skills, experiences, etc.) -who we are, what we need, why we need it, where we are -culture ORGANIZATION---we organize and interpret experiences by applying schemata: Prototypes---ideal example Personal Constructs---categories/bi-polar dimensions (we define people/things only in terms of the constructs we use) Q: How can this limit our perception? A: We only notice qualities covered by constructs Ex. Intelligent-unintelligent; attractive-unattractive Stereotypes---generalizations about people and situations that allow us to create a set of expected behaviors --Have flexible rather than rigid stereotypes Scripts---sequence of behaviors that we have for how we and others should act in a particular situation INTERPRETATION -attributions -locus—Is the behavior internally motivated or externally motivated? -stability—stable/unstable (over time) -specificity—global/specific (situational) -responsibility—within personal control/beyond personal control -attribution errors: Self-serving bias: We often describe our positive behaviors as being internally motivated, stable, global, and within our control (this makes us look good) We often describe our negative behaviors as being due to external factors, being unstable, specific, and beyond our control (this makes us look like our negative behaviors are not our fault and rare) Fundamental attribution error: (focuses on negative behaviors and locus)- OUR NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR -internal causes/motivation (we underestimate this) -external causes/motivation (we overestimate this) OTHERS’ NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR -internal causes/motivation (we overestimate this) -external causes/motivation (we underestimate this) Influences on Perception -physiology -expectations -age -culture/social location/roles -cognitive ability (cognitive complexity) -self (unique, individual characteristics) *implicit personality theory—assumptions about how various qualities fit together in personalities (thinking that people who are outgoing are also confident and fun or people who are quiet must be insecure and boring) Last words on perception: Selection, organization, and interpretation are INTERACTIVE. What we select to perceive influences how we organize and interpret stimuli. For example, in a conversation you notice a particular behavior/word/phrase (selection)—How do you organize and interpret that behavior/word/phrase? From that point on, what you select (notice) is from the point of view that was a result of how you initially organized and interpreted that behavior/word/phrase. *Be aware of the labels you use—Language affects perception and perception influences the language we use to label