Communication 1A An introduction to interpersonal communication

WEEK 11

Perception and communication

1What do you see?

2What do you see?

3Perception is…

“Perception is complex…[it] is the process by which you become aware of the many

stimuli impinging on your senses”.

DeVito, J., O’Rourke, S., & O’Neill, L. (2000). Human communication: The New Zealand edition. Auckland: Pearson. p. 39

4Stimuli

Stimuli refers to anything that we process through our senses:• Anything we see• Anything we hear• Anything we touch• Anything we smell• Anything we taste

But because we all have different perceptual filters, we often interpret these stimuli differently from others.

5Why do differences in perception

occur?

• Physiological factors

– Everyone is physiologically different: We are made up of different genes and we have different body characteristics.

– Our gendered characteristics and biological traits also differ us from others.

– How we are feeling physically (whether we feel tired, energised, hot, cold etc) also make us function and think differently from others.

– Therefore, these all impact on our perceptual processes.

6Why do differences in perception

occur?• Past experiences

– Often past experiences can affect the ways we see things perceptually.

– Example: If someone was a victim of a violent crime in their home, they may feel differently from someone else when staying home alone at night; if they heard a noise, they may perceive it as danger. Another person who had different past experiences may simply ignore the noise.

– This is also known as PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCY

– The roles we have (e.g. as a son, husband, student) impact on our perception of certain situations and communication interactions

– Our cultural identity can also impact on how we perceive things. This will be discussed during our INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION module.

7Why do differences in perception

occur?

• Present feelings and circumstances

– Different times of the day can impact on how we perceive things. Think back to the example about hearing a noise when staying home alone at night. The ‘night’ is the main variable here. If we were home alone during the day, we might not even register a noise.

– Our present mood can also affect how we react to things.

Slide 5-7 adapted from Pearson, J. C., & Nelson, P. E. (1997). An introduction to human communication: Understanding and sharing. Madison: Brown &

Benchmark Publishers. p. 24-29

8What occurs in perception?

People engage in three separate activities during perception: selection, organisation and interpretation. Each activity is involved in our perceptions.

• Selection– “In selection we neglect some stimuli in our environment to focus

on other stimuli.”

• Organisation– “Organisation is the grouping of stimuli into meaningful units or

wholes.”

• Interpretation– “Interpretation is the assignment of meaning to stimuli”

(in other words, what our brain thinks of the stimuli).

Direct quotes on this slide cited from Pearson, J. C., & Nelson, P. E. (1997). An introduction to human communication: Understanding and sharing. Madison: Brown & Benchmark Publishers.

p. 24-29

9 Perception and communication

Chase, P., O’Rourke, S., Smith, L., Sutton, C., Timperley, T., & Wallace, C. (2003). Effective business communication in New Zealand. (3rd ed.). Auckland. Pearson Education NZ. p. 9