Download Perception

What is Perception?
Perception involves the way we view the world around
us. It adds, meaning to information gathered via the
five senses of touch, smell, hearing, vision and taste.
Perception is the primary vehicle through which we come
to understand our surroundings and ourselves.
Perception
“ Perception is the process of receiving information
about and making sense of the world around us. It
involves deciding which information to notice, how
to categorize this information and how to interpret it
within the framework of existing knowledge.
“ A process by which individuals organize and
interpret their sensory impressions in order to give
meaning to their environment.
What Is Perception, and Why Is It Important?
• People’s behavior is
based on their
perception of what
reality is, not on
reality itself.
• The world as it is
perceived is the world
that is behaviorally
important.
 Factors influencing Perception
Factors in the perceiver
• Attitudes
• Motives
• Interests
• Experience
• Expectations
Perception
Factors in the situation
• Time
• Work Setting
• Social Setting
Factors in the Target
• Novelty
• Motion
• Sounds
• Size
• Background
• Proximity
• Similarity
4
Organizational Behavior / Perception

Perceptual Process
Receiving Stimuli
(External & Internal)
Selecting Stimuli
Organizing
Figure Background ,
Perceptual Grouping
( similarity, proximity,
closure, continuity)
Interpreting
Attribution ,Stereotyping,
Halo Effect, Projection
Response
Covert: Attitudes ,
Motivation,
Feeling
Overt: Behavior
Perceptual organization
 It is the process by which we group outside stimuli into
recognizable and identifiable patterns and whole objects.
Figure-Ground Illustration
Field-ground differentiation
– The tendency to distinguish
and focus on a stimulus that
is classified as figure as
opposed to background.
Figure and
ground
Figure and ground
PERCEPTUAL GROUPING
 Our tendency to group several individual stimuli into
a meaningful and recognizable pattern.
 It is very basic in nature and largely it seems to be
inborn.
 Some factors underlying grouping are
-continuity
-closure
-proximity
-similarity
The Vertical lines are both the same
length.
The center circles are both the same size.
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.
Attribution Theory: Judging Others
 Our perception and judgment of others is
significantly influenced by our assumptions of
the other person’s internal state.
When individuals observe behavior, they attempt to
determine whether it is internally or externally
caused.
• Internal causes are under that person’s control
• External causes are not – person forced to act in that
way
 Causation judged through:
– Distinctiveness
– Consensus - Response is the same as others to same
situation.
– Consistency - Responds in the same way over time.
Elements of Attribution Theory
Distictiveness
Low
Distinctiveness(person does
not behave differently
in different situations)
High
Distinctiveness(person behaves
differently in
different situation.)
Consensus
Do other person
Behave in the
Same manner?
No
Low
Consensus
Yes
High
Consensus
Consistency
Does this person
behave
in this
manner at this
situation?
Yes
High
Consistency
No
Low
Consistency
Internal
Attribution
External
Attribution
Kelley’s Model
 External
Attribution
High consensus
High
distinctiveness
Low
consistency
 Internal Attribution
Low consensus
Low distinctiveness
High consistency
Errors and Biases in Attributions
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency to underestimate
the influence of external factors
and overestimate the influence
of internal factors when making
judgments about the behavior
of others.
In general, we
tend to blame the
person first, not
the situation.
Errors and Biases in Attributions (cont’d)
Self-Serving Bias
The tendency for individuals to
attribute their own successes
to internal factors while
putting the blame for failures
on external factors.
Thought: When student
gets an “A” on an exam,
they often say they
studied hard. But when
they don’t do well, how
does the self serving
bias come into play?
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others
Selective Perception
People selectively interpret what they see on the
basis of their interests, background, experience,
and attitudes.
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others
Halo Effect
Drawing a general impression
about an individual on the
basis of a single characteristic
Contrast Effects
Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that
are affected by comparisons with other
people recently encountered who rank higher
or lower on the same characteristics
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others
Projection
Attributing one’s own characteristics to other
people. We assume that others are similar to
us.
Stereotyping
Judging someone on the basis of one’s
perception of the group to which that
person belongs.
Specific Applications in Organizations
 Employment Interview
– Perceptual biases of raters affect the accuracy of
interviewers’ judgments of applicants.
 Performance Expectations
– Self-fulfilling prophecy (Pygmalion effect): If manager
asks for high performance-----performance will be high
or vice versa
Expectations become reality
 Ethnic Profiling
– A form of stereotyping in which a group of individuals
is singled out—typically on the basis of race or
ethnicity—for intensive inquiry, scrutinizing, or
investigation.
 Performance Evaluations
– Appraisals are often the subjective (judgmental)
perceptions of appraisers of another employee’s job
performance.