Perception

Perception

• Perception is the way people organize and interpret the world around them in order to give meaning to their surroundings.

• People’s behavior is based on how they interpret reality, not reality itself.

• The world that is perceived is the world that is behaviorally important.

Perception

• Perception is influenced by:

– the perceiver.

– the target.

– the situation.

Factors Influencing Perception

• Factors in the Perceiver:– attitudes.–motives.– interest.–experience.–expectations.


• Factors in the Target:–motion.– sounds.– size.–background.–proximity.


• Factors in the Situation:–time.–work setting.– social setting.

Characteristics and Beliefs of the Perceivers Affecting Perception

• Stereotyping – Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs.

• Halo effect – Drawing a general positive impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic.

• Contrast effect – Evaluating a person’s characteristics that are affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics.

• Horn effect – Drawing a general negative impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic.

IntroductionLook at the picture Carefully

Contd….Contd….

What did you Notice ?

Contd….Contd….

Perception• Did you notice that the man (1) overlapped a number of the

elements in the picture that appeared further way than he did? • The man is also larger than objects which are in the distance.

Compare, for example, the size of the man's head and the size of the windows in the building (4) across the bay (3).

• Clearly if the man was in one of those buildings looking out of the window his head would be much smaller than the window.

• But his head being closer is much larger. • The man's body also overlaps the water which means he is in

front of it.• Look at the building labeled (5) . It would appear to be further

way than the white building (4). • The white building is larger and overlaps the middle building.

However, the tower (6) is taller than any of the other objects in the photo. Still it seems far away on the other side of the bay.

Perception & Its ImportancePerception can be defined as a process by which individuals

organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.

What one perceives can be substantially different from objective reality. Not necessary but there is often disagreement. For Eg: It is possible that all employees in a firm may view it as a great place

to work – favorable working conditions, interesting job assignments, good pay, an understanding and responsible management – BUT…………

Why is Perception Important ?Simply because people’s behavior is based on their perception of

what reality is, not reality itself.

Factor Influencing Perception Why do individuals look at the same thing, yet perceive

it differently ??

Because…………..

A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception.

Factors in perceiver such as attitudes, motives, interests, experience & expectations.

Factors in the Situation such as time, work setting & social setting.

Factors in the target such as sounds, size, background, proximity. Contd…Contd…

..

Perception

Factors in the perceiver•Attitude•Motives•Interests•Experience•Expectations

Factors in the situation•Time•Work Setting•Social Setting

Factors in the target•Novelty•Motion•Sounds•Size•Background•Proximity

Divergent Attitudes influences perception.

Motive means unsatisfied need which stimulates individuals and may exert a strong influence on their perceptions.

As our individual interests differs, what one person notices in a situation can differ from what others perceive.

Just as interests narrows one’s focus, so do one’s past experience

Expectation can also distort your perceptions as you will see what you expect to see.

The context in which we see objects or events is important.

The relationship of a target to its background influences perception.

PROCESS OF PERCEPTION

What is the perceptual process?

Perception.– The process by which people select, organize,

interpret, retrieve, and respond to information.– Perceptual information is gathered from:• Sight.• Hearing.• Touch.• Taste.• Smell.


Factors influencing the perceptual process.

– Characteristics of the perceiver.

– Characteristics of the setting.

– Characteristics of the perceived.


Characteristics of the perceiver.– The perceptual process is influenced by the

perceiver’s:• Past experiences.

• Needs or motives.

• Personality.

• Values and attitudes


Characteristics of the setting.– The perceptual process is influenced by the

setting’s:• Physical context.

• Social context.

• Organizational context.


Characteristics of the perceived.– The perceptual process is influenced by

characteristics of the perceived person, object, or event, such as:• Contrast.

• Intensity.

• Figure-ground separation.

• Size, Motion, Repetition or novelty.


Stages of the perceptual process.– Information attention and selection.

– Organization of information.

– Information interpretation.

– Information retrieval.


Information attention and selection.– Selective screening.

– Lets in only a tiny proportion all the information that bombards a person.

– Two types of selective screening.– Controlled processing.– Screening without perceiver’s conscious awareness.


Organization of information.– Schemas.

– Cognitive frameworks that represent organized knowledge about a given concept or stimulus developed through experience.

– Types of schemas.– Self schemas.– Person schemas.– Script schemas, Person-in-situation schemas.


Information interpretation.– Uncovering the reasons behind the ways stimuli are

grouped.

– People may interpret the same information differently or make different attributions about information.


Information retrieval.– Attention and selection, organization, and interpretation

are part of memory.

– Information stored in memory must be retrieved in order to be used.


Response to the perceptual process.– Thoughts.

– Feelings.

– Actions.

What are common perceptual distortions?

Common perceptual distortions include:– Stereotypes or prototypes.

– Halo effects.

– Selective perception.

– Projection.

– Contrast effects.

– Self-fulfilling prophecy.


Stereotypes or prototypes.– Combines information based on the category or class to

which a person, situation, or object belongs.

– Strong impact at the organization stage.

– Individual differences are obscured.


Halo effects.– Occur when one attribute of a person or situation is used

to develop an overall impression of the individual or situation.

– Likely to occur in the organization stage.

– Individual differences are obscured.

– Important in the performance appraisal process.


Selective perception.– The tendency to single out those aspects of a situation,

person, or object that are consistent with one’s needs, values, or attitudes.

– Strongest impact is at the attention stage.

– Perception checking with other persons can help counter the adverse impact of selective perception.


Projection.– The assignment of one’s personal attributes to other

individuals.

– Especially likely to occur in interpretation stage.

– Projection can be controlled through a high degree of self-awareness and empathy.


Contrast effects.– Occur when an individual is compared to other people on

the same characteristics on which the others rank higher or lower.


Self-fulfilling prophecy.– The tendency to create or find in another situation or

individual that which one expected to find.

– Also called the “Pygmalion effect.”

– Can have either positive or negative outcomes.

– Managers should adopt positive and optimistic approaches to people at work.

managers form expectations of

workers

Mgrs behave consistently with expct

Managers behaviors affect

workers

Workers respond to treatment

Self fulfilling prophecy

Positive expectations

Emotional & professional

support given

Added exp & boosted

confidence

Good performance

Pygmalion effect

Negative expectations

Emotional & professional

support withheld

Ltd exp & lowered

confidence

Poor performance

golem effect

How can the perceptual process be managed?

Impression management.– A person’s systematic attempt to behave in ways that create and

maintain desired impressions in others’ eyes.

– Successful managers:– Use impression management to enhance their own images.– Are sensitive to other people’s use of impression management

TECHNIQUE INTENDED OUTCOME

Disclosing obstacles What a motivated & competent person !

Playing dumb Freedom to concentrate

Playing safe Reputation for not making mistakes

Expert – citing Impression of expertise & good contacts

Opinion conformity

Winning liking & respect

Flattery “

Doing favors “

How can the perceptual process be managed?

Distortion management.– Managers should:

– Balance automatic and controlled information processing at the attention and selection stage.

– Broaden their schemas at the organizing stage.– Be attuned to attributions at the interpretation stage.

What is attribution theory?

Attribution theory aids in perceptual interpretation by focusing on how people attempt to:– Understand the causes of a certain event.

– Assess responsibility for the outcomes of the event.

– Evaluate the personal qualities of the people involved in the event


Internal versus external attributions of causes of behavior.– Internal causes are under the individual’s control.

– External causes are within the person’s environment.


Factors influencing internal and external attributions.– Distinctiveness — consistency of a person’s behavior across

situations.

– Consensus — likelihood of others responding in a similar way.

– Consistency — whether an individual responds the same way across time.


Fundamental attribution error.– Applies to the evaluation of someone’s else behavior.

– Attributing success to the influence of situational factors.

– Attributing failure to the influence of personal factors


Self-serving bias.– Applies to the evaluation of our own behavior.

– Attributing success to the influence of personal factors.

– Attributing failure to the influence of situational factors.

Honing perceptual skills

Knowing and perceiving oneself accurately: removing the blind spots.

The Johari Window Being empathic Having positive attitudes Enhancing self concept

Honing perceptual skills

Consciously avoiding common biases in perceptions Communicating with employees to erase incorrect

perceptions Avoiding attributions.

ASPECTS OF ME THAT

I KNOW I DON’T KNOW

OTHERS KNOW

OTHERS DON’T KNOW

PUBLIC AREA

BLIND AREA

PRIVATE AREA

DARK AREA

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Perception