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Chapter 4
Perception A psychological process involving individuals selecting stimuli from their environment
and processing this data to develop awareness and understanding about their environment and
determine responses.
Habituation Constant repetition of a stimulus can lead to the senses turning off from the awareness of
it.
Schema Cognitive structure stored in memory that represents some aspect of the world in an idealized
and abstract way which can provide an interpretation frame for processing information.
Script Cognitive structure build through experience and repeated practice that delineates the nature
and sequence of behaviours.
Perceptual errors The mistakes of judgement or understanding that can occur during the process of
interpreting stimuli.
Perceptual biases Systematic tendency to commit errors in perception that result in consistent and
predictable inaccuracies.
Primacy effect Describes the biased perceptions that result from humans placing an inordinately high
importance on the initial pieces of information about a target.
Recency effect The opposite of the primacy effect and describes the phenomenon that people tend to
recall, and place disproportionate importance on, the most recent pieces of information about a target
they have received.
Confi rmation bias (also known as confi rmatory bias) A tendency to seek out information that is in
line with expectations and existing knowledge.
Perceptual set A temporary mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another, or to
perceive stimuli in a certain way.
Perceptual defence bias Refers to the automatic discounting of disconfi rming stimuli and is used to
protect the individual against information, ideas or situations that are threatening to an existing
perception or attitude.
Automatic vigilance Suggests that negative social information, which has the potential to harm a
person, is automatically and quickly attended to.
Halo effect Positive bias introduced when attributing all of the characteristics of a person (or object)
from a single positive attribute.
Horns effect The opposite of the halo effect and takes the view that everything about a person is bad
on the basis of a single negative attribute.
Self-fulfi lling prophecy Describes the performance (or behaviour) improvement (or reduction) of
individuals and groups based on positive (or negative) expectations about their capabilities by other
people.
Knowledge of predictor bias Refers to the positive expectation and subsequent differential treatment
by managers or co-workers that is based on knowledge of valid performance indicators For example,
a new employee is known to be an excellent performer from their previous employment.
Stereotyping The tendency to attribute everyone (or everything) in a particular category with the
characteristics based on a single example.
Stereotype A preconceived notion that suggests that all members of a particular category share a set
of characteristics.
Projection A psychological process of projecting onto others characteristics that we see in ourselves.
Core self-evaluation A dispositional factor (i.e., a stable trait) that closely refl ects locus of control,
emotional stability (neuroticism) as well as self-esteem and generalized performance confi dence.
People with positive core self-evaluations view themselves positively across situations and see
themselves as capable, in control and generally valuable.
Attribution The process by which we ascribe causes to events as well as to our own and others’
behaviour.
Covariation This refers to the degree to which two elements appear or change together.
Internal attribution Explanation for behaviour that is based on internal reasons for it such as
intentions, personality, or other aspects of the person.
External attribution Explanation for behaviour that focuses on external causes, such as situational
demands and infl uences.
Fundamental attribution error Also called correspondence bias, refers to the tendency to overly
rely on dispositional (i.e., personality-based) causal explanations, and to underemploy situational
explanations, for the behaviour of others.
Actor-observer effect Humans typically assume that observed behaviour tells us what kind of people
others are, regardless of the situation. But humans tend to do the opposite and predominantly attribute
their own behaviour to situational factors.
Self-serving bias A bias that occurs when individuals make internal attribution for success but rely on
external attributions for failures.
Attitudes Predisposed feeling, thought or behavioural response to a particular stimulus.
Implicit Attitudes Slowly acquired attitudes for which people have generally little awareness and
which are activated by automatic processes.
Explicit attitudes Reason-based attitudes that people can report and which they can actively control.
Instrumental approach to work Based on a trading and value approach to work and the
determination of contribution relative to benefi ts gained.
Perceived behavioural control The subjective assessment of the likelihood that particular behaviours
can be performed.
Cognitive dissonance An aversive state that motivates individuals to resolve apparent confl ict
among attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviours.
Psychological reactance Defi ned as anticonformity (a strong adverse reaction) in response to any
perceived attempt to control or restrict a person’s freedom.
Impression management The processes used by individuals to infl uence and control the views that
others form about them.
Aesthetic labour Describes the managementdetermined mix of employee characteristics including
appearance, age, weight, class and accent and intended to create a specifi c impression or image of the
organization.