CS101 Human Communication
Lecture 3
The process of Perception
Unit Goals
• Learn How Perception Influences Communication
• Learn How to Increase Perceptual Accuracy
The Perception Process - Stage 1
Sensory Stimulation Occurs
• Selective Perception
• Selective Exposure
The Perception Process - Stage 2
Sensory Stimulation is Organized
• By Rules
• By Creating Schemata
• By Invoking Scripts
The Perception Process - Stage 3
Sensory Stimulation is Interpreted-Evaluated
• Perceptions Given Meaning
• Process is Subjective
• Perception Evaluated Based on Rules, Schemata, and Scripts
The Perception Process - Stage 4
Sensory Stimulation is Put in Memory
• Stored for Later Retrieval
• Cognitive Tags
• Stored in Scripts and Schemas
The Perception Process - Stage 5
Sensory Stimulation is Recalled
• Recall Info Consistent with Schemas
• Fail to Recall Info Inconsistent with Schemas
• If Info is Very Inconsistent, May Revise Schemas
Five-Stage Model Has Implications
• We Rely on Shortcuts
• Shortcuts Can Mislead
• Recollections are not Objective
• Judgments are Ethnocentric
• Memory is Unreliable and Ambiguous
Many Processes Influence Perception
• Implicit Personality Theory
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Perceptual Accentuation
• Primacy-Recency
• Consistency
• Stereotyping
• Attribution
Implicit Personality Theory (PIT)
• Rules Linking Style with Other Characteristics
• "Halo Effect" - We See the Positive in People We Like
• "Reverse Halo Effect" - We See negative in People We Don't Like
Problem with Implicit Personality Theory
• Can Develop Inaccurate Personality Theories
• Can Lead to Ignoring Inconsistent Information
Self Fulfilling Prophecy
• A Prediction that Comes True Because We Make it Happen
• If We Expect a Person to Act a Certain Way, They Probably Will
• Reactions Can Either Be Positive or Negative
Barriers to SFP
• Tendency to Fulfill Own Prophecies
• Distorts Perception that You are Actually Influencing the Other
Perceptual Accentuation
• Tendency to See What You Expect and Want to See
• Seeking Out People You Want and Need to Be With
Potential Barriers with PA
• Distorts Perceptions of Reality
• Fail to See What You Don't Want to See
• Filter Information Damaging to Self Image
• "Pollyanna Effect"
Primacy Effect
• What We Hear First is Most Influential for General Impression
Recency Effect
• Use Later Information to Make Impressions More Specific
Potential barriers with Primacy-Recency
• Total Picture is Not Accurate
• Discount or Distort Later Perceptions
Consistency theory
• Attempt to Maintain Balance in Perceptions
• Expect Certain Things Together and Others Not
• Expect Persons We Like to Have Positive Characteristics, Those We Don't Negative Characteristics
Barriers to Consistency
• Ignore Behaviors That Are Not Consistent with Our View
• Attribute Negative Qualities To Those We Don't Like
• Fail to See Positive in Those We Dislike and Negative in Persons We Like
Stereotyping
• A Fixed Impression of a Group
• May Racial, Sexist, Religious, Etc.
• Thus, We Categorize All People in a Group a Certain Way
Barriers to Stereotyping
• Fail to See the Individual as an Individual
• Associate Assumed Negative Group Characteristics to the Individual
• Ignore Uniqueness of Person
Attribution
• Attempt to Discover Why People Do What They Do
• Is it Because of Personality (Internal)?
• Is it Because of Situation (External)?
Consensus
• Does This Person Act Like Others?
• No? Internal Causes
• Yes? External Causes
Consistency
• High Consistency - Person Acts in a Similar Way Most of Time
• Behavior Attributed to Internal Motivation
Distinctiveness
• Person acts the same way in different situations
Controllability
• Degree to which one believes another was in control of situation
Internal cause
• Low consensus
• High consistency
• Low distinctiveness
• High controllability
External cause
• High consensus
• Low consistency
• Low distinctiveness
• High controllability
Barriers to Attribution
• Always Based in Guess
• Self-serving Biases
• Conclude That People Do What They Do Because They Are the Kind of People They Are
More Barriers
• Cultural Influences
• Overattribution
Know Your Perceptions
• Recognize Your Role
• Avoid One-Cue Conclusions
• Avoid Early Conclusions
• Beware of Your Own Biases
Know Your Perceptions
• Realize Positive Self-Bias
• Check Your Perceptions
• Reduce Uncertainty
Check Your Perceptions
• Describe What You See or Hear
• Ask the Other Person for Confirmation
Reduce Uncertainty
• Influenced Greatly by Culture
• High and Low Uncertainty Anxiety
Strategies for Reducing Uncertainty
• Observe Person and Situation
• Manipulate Situation
• Collect Information from Other Sources
• Interact with the Other
• Be Culturally Sensitive