PowerPoint Presentation to accompany
Looking Out, Looking In, Tenth Edition
Chapter 3
Perception: What You See Is What You
Get
Presentation prepared by
Dr. Michael Pearson, Gretchen Gill, and Tim
Scanlon of West Chester University
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is a trademark used herein under license.
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CHAPTER 3
Perception: What You See
Is What You Get
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Perception: What You See Is
What You Get
• The Perception Process
• Influences on Perception
• The Accuracy—and Inaccuracy—of
Perception
• Perception Checking
to Prevent Misunderstandings
• Empathy and Communication
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The Perception Process
Selection
• Selection - first stage in perception process in
which some data are chosen to attend to and
others are ignored.
Organization
• Organization - stage in the perception process
that involves arranging data in a meaningful way.
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The Perception Process
Organization
Perceptual schema - cognitive frameworks that
allow us to organize the raw data we have selected
according to:
•Appearance
•Social roles
•Interaction style
•Psychological traits
•Membership
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The Perception Process
Organization
Stereotyping – exaggerated generalizations
associated with a categorizing system
• Punctuation - describes the determination of
causes and effects in a series of interactions
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The Perception Process
Interpretation
Interpretation - process of attaching meaning to
make sense of data
Several Factors of Interpretation:
• Self-concept
• Degree of involvement
• Relational Satisfaction
• Past Experience
• Assumptions about human behavior
• Expectations
• Knowledge
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Influences On Perception
Physiological Influences
• The Senses
• Age
• Health
• Fatigue
• Hunger
• Biological Cycles
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Influences On Perception
Cultural Differences
• Every culture has its own worldview, its own way
of looking at the world.
• Nonverbal behaviors also differ from one part of
the world to another.
• Even beliefs about the very value of talk differ from
one culture to another.
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Influences On Perception
Social Roles
• Gender Roles
• Androgynous - combining masculine and
feminine traits
• Occupational Roles
• Self-Concept
• Shared Narratives
• Narrative - perception of the world shared
by a collection of people
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The Accuracy—And Inaccuracy—
Of Perception
We Often Judge Ourselves More
Charitably Than Others
Self-serving bias – tendency to judge
ourselves in the most generous terms possible
We Tend to Favor Negative Impressions
of Others Over Positive Ones
• We tend to more influenced by less desirable
characteristics
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The Accuracy—And Inaccuracy—
Of Perception
We Are Influenced by What Is Most Obvious
• We select stimuli from our environment that are
noticeable: intense, repetitious, or otherwise
attention grabbing.
We Cling to First Impressions
• Labels are a way of making interpretations.
We Tend to Assume Others Are
Similar to Us
• Others don’t always think or feel the way we do, and
assuming similarities exist can lead to problems.
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Perception Checking To
Prevent Misunderstandings
Perception Checking - a tool for helping you understand
others accurately instead of assuming that your first
interpretation is correct.
Elements of Perception Checking
• A description of the behavior you noticed
• At least two possible interpretations of behavior
• A request for clarification about how to interpret
the behavior
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Perception Checking To
Prevent Misunderstandings
Perception-Checking Considerations
• Completeness
• Nonverbal Congruency
• Cultural Rules
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Empathy And Communication
Empathy Defined
• Empathy - ability to re-create another person’s
perspective; experience the world from the other’s
point of view
Three Dimensions of Empathy:
• Perspective taking
• Emotional dimension
• Genuine concern
• Sympathy - compassion for another’s situation
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Empathy And Communication
The “Pillow Method”:
A Tool for Building Empathy
• Pillow Method - method for understanding an
issue from several perspectives rather than with an
egocentric attitude
• Position 1: I’m Right, You’re Wrong
• Position 2: You’re Right, I’m Wrong
• Position 3: Both Right, Both Wrong
• Position 4: The Issue Isn’t As Important As It Seems
• Conclusion: There Is Truth In All Perspectives
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