Perception
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1 ING105 Effective Communication LECTURE 5: PERCEPTION Perception The objectives Define the perceptual process Explain how people can have varying perceptions of the same phenomena Recognize instances of stereotyping and explain its relationship to the perceptual process Explain the difference between fact and inference Recognize communication problems caused by attributing meaning 2 Perception Imagine a few people that witnessed a car acident. Do you think they give the same eyewitness reports to the police? 3 Perception (cont’d) n 4 Perception (cont’d) v 5 What is perception? Perception is an active process of becoming aware and understanding the environment around you. It is strongly influenced by communication. Perception is the process of receiving information about the world around us and making sense of it. It involves which information to notice, how to categorize this information and how to interpret it. Factors that cause perceptions to vary between people Physiology Past experiences Culture Present feelings 6 Perceptual Process We can’t take in all the sensory stimuli (i.e. observable data) around us; otherwise, we would have trouble concentrating on things. Perception helps us sort through (i.e. organize) external stimuli. We compare newly received messages to past experiences we had with similar situations. Past experiences help us to interpret what we sense in our daily lives. The perceptual process occurs in three stages: selection (of events, people, objects, situations and activities) organization interpretation 7 Perceptual Process (cont’d) Selection In the first step of the perceptual process, your mind decides which of the many stimuli are worth recognizing/selecting. The process of focusing on specific stimuli and ignoring others is called selective attention. We only notice some, not all, of the sensory information we receive. What do you see in this picture? _____________ OR _____________? 8 Perceptual Process (cont’d) Selection (cont’d) Notice what is going on around you. Is the room warm or cold? Messy or clean? Large or small? Light or dark? Can you smell anything? Are you sleepy, hungry, angry or comfortable? We narrow our attention to what we define as important in that particular moment. (watch the video!) 9 Perceptual Process (cont’d) Organization In the second step of the perceptual process, your brain organizes the stimuli you receive and group them in a meaningful way. (read the e-mail on p. 18) We organize messages by comparing them with the information we have from past experiences. We expect future events to be similar to previous experiences. This helps us select and organize (i.e. make sense of) stimuli, but it may also limit our ability to perceive things properly. If we cannot view new perceptual input with an open mind, it is difficult to be an effective communicator. 10 Perceptual Process (cont’d) Organization (cont’d) Our previous judgments can cloud our wilingness to be open to new information. Do the nine-dot puzzle on p. 19! Connect the dots using four straight lines without lifting your pencil from the paper! Most people cannot do it, even after having previously seen this puzzle in their social/academic life. The concept of staying inside the imaginary square is so established that we cannot do the puzzle. 11 Perceptual Process (cont’d) Interpretation Once you have organized information by grouping it and comparing it to past experiences, the third step is interpretation. Here you interpret what you sense; you assign meaning to it. The way people interpret stimuli may change dramatically. After witnessing a car accident You: ‘I think the driver must have been drunk because he was losing control of the car before hitting the man’. Your friend: ‘What are you talking about? He obviously swerved to avoid hitting the car coming into his lane’. 12 Perceptual Process Model 13 Classroom Activity Match the term from the left to the correct definition on the right! 1. Perception a. Attending to stimuli 2. Selection b. Attaching meaning to information 3. Organization c. Process by which you view the world around you 4. Interpretation d. Arranging the stimuli in a meaningful way 14 Perception management How do you want other people to perceive you? We cannot control how others perceive us but we can do certain things that promote a personal brand for ourselves. Do you want other people to perceive you as: Smart Kind Responsible Easygoing Fun Witty, shy, outgoing, honest? 15 Perception management (cont’d) Personal brand: A personal brand exists in the minds of others in the way they perceive, think, and feel about you. You can brand yourself the same way that a company brands a product. You send messages that are consistent with your brand. Focus on your appearance, language, and nonverbal communication as part of your brand. Your appearance should represent you at all times. Whenever you speak, follow consistent standards; be mindful of the messages you are sending nonverbally. Your brand communicates everything about you to other people. 16 Perception management (cont’d) One of the smartest things that students can do early in their university life is to think about managing perceptions that others have of them. Exhibit qualities that you want others to perceive! How do you want to brand yourself? How do you want others to see you? You can’t guarantee someone else’s perceptual interpretation but now is definitely the time to start thinking about guiding others. (do try it on p. 22) 17 Varying perceptions People do not perceive the same sensory input for a variety of reasons. For instance, you receive the same sensory input from your instructor as the rest of your class but you may have different perceptions of the instructor. Some of you may find the instructor funny but others may think his is a total bore and his jokes are cheesy. Why do perceptions vary? Everyone has different experiences, values and expectations. (do try it on p. 23) 18 Stereotyping Stereotyping is the act of treating everyone with similar characteristics as they they were the same. What do we use when we stereotype? __________________________ We experience sensory stimuli and make sense of it by categorizing the information and comparing it to what we already believe is true. Stereotyping is an important part of the organizing step of the perceptual process. It develops from information we choose to hear and remember from our family, peers, teachers and community. 19 Stereotyping (cont’d) Since stereotyping ignores the possibility of individual differences, it can be problematic. Thirty years ago men who wore earrings were stereotyped as gay. Today men wear earrings without being stereotyped. Can you think of any other examples in which people were or are being stereotyped because of their appearance? ___________________________________________________ Why do you think people stereotype others? 20 Fact versus inference When you try to assign meaning to perceived events, it is important to realize the difference between facts and inference. Facts are observable phenomena. It is a fact that there are clouds in the sky, the grass is green and oceans contain water. We can observe the truth in these statements. An Observation a thing that has been done something shown to exist something known to have existed 21 Fact versus inference (cont’d) Inferences are conclusions we draw about the facts we observe. For example, if the green grass looks inviting while we are on a trip, we could stop there and have a picnic. We have drawn a conclusion. If we are attacked by fire ants, we realize our inference was wrong. Everyone who attends this class will be more informed about Inference and Fact. Eric attended this class. Inference: _________________________. Educated guess as to what happened based on facts (observations) conclusion judgment (do Reality on p. 25 and self-test handout) 22 The Ladder of Inference a 23 Examples v 24 Attributing Meaning When we witness behaviors in others, we try to make sense of those behaviors and assign meaning to them. Creating meaning for behaviors is called attribution. Imagine this scenario: Tony sees Tina in the student center and waves hello. Tina looks at him and quickly looks away without responding. Tony feels hurt and angry. ‘Fine’ he thinks. ‘Don’t talk to me’…. Tony has just created a meaning for Tina’s action. He assumes she meant to ignore him. What is he going to do? Tony has choices. He can act as if his assumption is a fact. Or, he can question his assumptions? He could think of reasons for Tina’s action. 25 Attributing Meaning (cont’d) What will Tony do next? Will he ignore her the next time he sees her? (do Critical Thinking on p. 27) It is obvious that nothing good will occur if he acts on an incorrect assumption. Tony would benefit from recognizing other possibilities for Tina’s actions or from doing a perception check immediately. (do Critical Thinking on p. 28) Perception Checking Perception checking is a skill that is used to double-check your understanding of what is going on with another person. 26 Perception Checking Perception checking consists of three parts: First, you give an objective description of what you sensed. Second, you give an interpretation of what the situation meant to you. Third, you ask a question In the previous example, what do you think Tom could say to Tina when he sees her next time? ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ 27 Perception Checking (cont’d) Read another example of perception checking about Judy, a 35year old woman, on page 28-29. 28 Perception related to self-concept Self-concept refers to what we think about ourselves, including our: physical attributes (short or tall, big or small) aptitudes (good at math or getting along with others) physical coordination (good at sports or video games) skills (tying flies or gourmet cooking) We recognize whether we are tall or short, good at games etc. We reach these conclusions as we assess and evaluate ourselves intrapersonally. (do Critical Thinking on p. 31) 29 Perception related to self-esteem Self-esteem refers to the value we place on ourselves. Rachel, who is 155 tall, thinks she is short. Her self-esteem related to this concept depends on the value she places on height. If she thinks that only tall people have an advantage, her self-esteem will be low. However, if she believes that attractiveness does not depend on height, then being short will not affect her self-esteem. Why is self-esteem important? Self-esteem and how we feel about ourselves influence our willingness and ability to communicate effectively. If you feel good about yourself, you are more likely to approach and meet new people, to assert your ideas, stand confidently before an audience. 30 Summary Understanding the perceptual process is critical to becoming an effective communicator. You must understand why you assign meaning the way you do to words, actions and people so you can improve your communication style to avoid miscommunication. Once you understand your own perceptions and how the perceptual process works, you will be better able analyze why others perceive phenomena and assign meaning the way they do. 31 Coming up next! 32 Appendix The solution(s) to the puzzle 33 34 a
