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Perception and communication

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Perception

Sensation and perception■ How do our brain register “what is out there”?■ What other senses do we use to register the

amazing world?■ How do we see, smell, hear, feel and taste?■ Are there other “extra-sensory” preceptors?■ How are we aware of our bodies?■ How are we aware of other people?■ Are we aware of everything around us?

Sensation■ Psychologists define sensation as the registration of

properties of an object or event that occurs when a type of receptor ( as the retina and the skin) is stimulated (Kosslynn and Rosenberg, 2006)

■ Sensation arise when enough physical energy strikes the sense organ, so that the receptor cells send neural impulses to the brain.

■ In other words, sensation is the process that yields our immediate experience of the stimuli in our environment (Gerow, 1997)

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Other senses■ Vestibular sense: tells us about balance, about where we

are in relation to gravity and about acceleration/ deceleration.

■ Kinesthetic sense: tells us the about the movement or position of our muscles and joints.

■ Pain: a special sense■ Subliminal perception ■ Extra-sensory perception

Sensation and Perception

■ If all of us receive the same stimuli from our senses, are our perception the same too?

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Perception

■ Perception occurs when you organized and interpreted the sensory input as signaling a particular object or event .

■ Perception relies on two phases of processing:(1) Organization into coherent unit (2) Identifying what and where

Perception

■ Perception is the process of selectively attending to information and assigning meaning to it. (Verderber and Verderber, 2005)

■ The process of selecting, organizing and interpreting sensory information ( Huffman, 2007)

■ The brain select the information it receives from our sense organs, organizes the information selected, interprets and evaluates it . (Verderber and Verderber, 2005)

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Perception■ Perception involves selecting, organizing and

interpreting information in order to give personal meaning to the communication we receive ( Seiler and Beall, 2008; page 30)

■ What we perceive about ourselves, objects and others give meanings to our experiences.

■ It is these meanings, based on our perceptions that we communicate to others.

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Perception ■ Perception may sounds simple but it is actually a

very complex process. ■ If not understood, will lead to

miscommunications.■ The process of perception starts with

awareness and then followed by perception formation.

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Perception: Awareness

■ Being aware of what is going on, and taking in

the sights, sounds, smells etc., can only occur

when we are paying attention to them

■ Do you think that if we are in the same room, we

are aware of the same things?

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Perception: Perception Formation■ The way our mind filters and sorts information has a

deep effect on how we perceive others, how we talk to them and how they respond to us.

■ Each of us organise and interprets the world differently. ■ Psychologists use the term cognitive complexity to

explain how our minds process and store information. ■ Children has simple processing information system

whereas adults have complex processing systems.

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The Nature of Perception

■ Lack of information on how perception works

leads to miscommunications; including

misjudgments of other people’s behaviours and

ideas.

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The Nature of Perception

■ Does our brains absorb information like the camera?

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The Nature of Perception: Selection

■ There is too much information- so the brain selects.

■ We are exposed to millions of bits of information, at one time, but the mind can process only a small fraction.

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How do we select?

■ On the conscious and subconscious level, the brain selects information based on needs, interests and expectations.

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Needs, Interests and Expectations

■ We are likely to pay attention to information that meets our needs – of all types.

■ We pay attention to things or people which/ who are of our interest.

■ We are likely to see what we are expected to see and to miss information which violates our expectations.

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How do we select?

■ We choose to experience or not experience certain things is called selective exposure.

■ Focusing on specific stimuli while ignoring or paying less attention to other stimuli is called selective attention.

■ Selecting to remember certain stimuli but no others is called selective retention.

■ Selection is the sorting of stimuli from another.

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The nature of perception: Organization

■ Imagine when you walk into a room filled with

people.

■ Organization is categorizing of stimuli from the

environment in order to make sense of it.

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The role of experience

How do we organize information?■ Closure: filling in missing information so as to form a

complete picture■ Proximity : Grouping of two or more stimuli that are close

to one another, based on assumption that because the objects or people appear together, they are basically the same.

■ Similarity ( or pattern) : the grouping of stimuli that resemble one another in size, shape, colour or other traits

■ Simplicity

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The Nature of Perception : Interpretation

■ Interpretation is the process of assigning meaning to the stimuli.

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How do we interpret?

■ We use :1. Past experience2. New information3. Other people’s opinions

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Interpretation: Using past experience■ Our interpretations of stimuli depend on our past

experiences.■ The more familiar we are with the objects, events and

people, the less ambiguous our interpretations of them will be.

■ However, our past experience can be limited, or there can be exceptions to a certain phenomenon. Our interpretation can be inaccurate. For example, the person who always smiles ( associated with kind and caring) can also be a murderer.

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Interpretation: Based on new information■ Being open to new information is important. Let not past

experience blind us from finding fresh meanings in new situations or events.

■ A bad experience from a sales person does not mean that all future sales experience will be bad. There are many good, honest and concern sales person.

■ Experience helps us to be more cautious, but not closing doors to new meaningful experiences.

■ The same information however, has different meanings to different people, as each of us has our own “lenses” or “filters” .

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Interpretation: Based on others’ opinions■ We are also being influenced by other people, via

various means. One of the means is mass media.

■ The relationship between us and the “other” people also play a role in our interpretation.

■ The “intensity” of the other people’s opinion also matters. Something said many times is more likely to influence us than something said once.

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Perceptual Differences■ Each of us are different and our perceptions thus are

different.■ Our difference in perceptions are influenced by :

– Perceptual set– Attribution error– Physical characteristics– Psychological state– Cultural background– Gender– media

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Perceptual set■ When we ignore new information and rely solely on past

experiences to interpret, we are using perceptual set. ■ A perceptual set allows our past experiences to control

our perceptions such that we ignore new information. ■ Perceptual set is thus a fixed, previously determined

view of events, objects or people.■ Perceptual set is a form of stereotyping.■ Stereotyping is the categorizing of events, objects or

people without regard to the unique individual characteristics or qualities.

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Perceptual set■ Perceptual set and stereotypes involve both selective attention and

selective retention. The difference is that stereotyping uses categories while perceptual set does not.

■ Perceptual set interferes with communication. ■ Perceptual set prevents us from seeing or hearing things which are

different from which we expect. As a result we fail to notice new things or changes.

■ At times perceptual set help us make decisions efficiently. ■ The key is: do not assume. perceptual sets are always accurate

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Attribution error■ It is human nature to attribute or assign causes to

people’s behaviour.■ Attribution is the complex process through which we

attempt to understand the reasons behind others’ behaviours.

■ Two elements influence attribution:1. Situation ( environment)2. Traits of the person ( disposition)

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Attribution error■ Research shows that we are more likely to overestimate

dispositional causes and underestimate situational causes. This bias is called the fundamental attribution error.

■ Attribution error occurs when we perceive others as acting as they do because they are “that kind of person” ( that is due to his/her trait), rather than because of external factors which have influenced their behaviour

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Physical Characteristics■ Our physical characteristics such as weight, height, body

shape, health and the ability to use our senses influences our perceptual differences.

■ For example, a person who is visually impaired experiences the world differently compared to a sighted person.

■ Height and age of a person also influence perception of events.

■ Myriad of physical characteristics influence our perception; colours, tidiness, facial hair, observed disabilities etc

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Psychological State■ Our psychological state influences our perception.■ When everything goes well and we are in a positive state

of mind, we perceive things positively. ■ When under stress or in anger, or when self-image is

poor, perception tends to be negative.

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Cultural background■ Cultural background affects perception■ Culture can be defined as learned behaviours that are

communicated from one generation to another to promote individual and social survival.

■ A culture evolves through communication; beliefs, artifacts and lifestyle are shared.

■ Physical features such as skin colour or eye shape has little or nothing to do with cultural identity.

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Cultural background■ Much of cultural influence occurs without our realizing it.

We are usually not conscious of the fact that much of our behaviour is conditioned by culture.

■ A competent communicator does not depend on physical characteristics to make assumptions about people’s values, beliefs, attitudes or behaviours.

■ To avoid or reduce misunderstandings, patience and tolerance are needed.

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Cultural background: ethnocentrism■ Being unable to appreciate ideas, customs or beliefs that

differ from those of one’s own culture and assume that one’s own view is superior to that of other culture is referred to as ethnocentrism.

■ Ethnocentrism alters our perception of others. There is a tendency to use our own culture as the yardstick by which we judge all other cultures/people who are different from us.

■ With ethnocentrism, other culture are viewed to be inferior.

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Ethnocentrism vs cultural relativism■ One form of ethnocentrism is cultural myopia.■ Cultural myopia refers to perceiving one’s own culture as

superior and having a very narrow or shortsighted view of cultures other than own culture.

■ When someone takes on a broader worldview and open their minds to different culture, and not judging other cultures as inferior because they are different, the person is accepting/practicing cultural relativism.

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Ethnocentrism vs cultural relativism■ People who practice cultural relativism strive to

understand differences rather than judging; promoting intercultural relations.

■ Cultural relativism is “we-oriented” whereas ethnocentrism is “me-oriented”.

■ Cultural relativists are willing to understand people from different cultures without being judgemental.

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Gender■ Gender affects our perception.■ Gender is socially constructed and is related to

masculine and feminine behaviours that are learned.■ Some theorists believe that men and women understand

the world differently ; resulting in different ways of communicating.

■ Does “gender gap” exist?■ The roles of men and women are changing?

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Media

■ The media greatly influence us. ■ Media shape our views.

– How much is our perception influenced by the media? In advertisements

– During election/campaigns– In mails– Etc

■ Competent communicators check for truthfulness and accuracy.

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Improving perception■ Recognize the uniqueness of each person frame of

reference and therefore always question the accuracy of our perception.

■ Be an active perceiver: Seek more information■ Realize that perception change over time■ Distinguish facts from inferences.■ Aware of the role of perceptions play in communication. ■ Keep an open mind■ Do perception checking

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Conclusion■ Perception is the process of selecting, organizing and

interpreting information in order to give meaning( or make sense of the situation).

■ Perception is being influenced by many factors such as experience, culture, gender, context, etc

■ To improve communication we must remember that perception is seldom the same for everyone; our perception is one of the many possibilities.

■ Make efforts to improve our perception.

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References: ■ Seiler, W. J and Beall, M. L ( 2008). Communication.

Making Connections ( 7th ed). Boston: Pearson■ Perkins,P. S ( 2008). The Art and Science of

Communication. Tools for Effective Communication in the Work Place. New Jersey: Wiley.

■ Hybels, S., and Weaver II, R. L ( 2004). Communcating Effectively ( 7th ed). Boston: Mc Graw Hill

■ Verderber, R. F. and Verderber, K.S (2005) Communicate( 11th ed). CA: Thomson/Wadsworth

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References■ Aamodt, M.G (2007). Industrial /organizational

psychology. An applied approach. Belmont, CA: Thomson

■ Kosslynn & Rosenberg ( 2006). Psychology in Context (3rd ed). Boston, MA: Pearson International edition.

■ Gerow, G. R ( 1997). Psychology. An Introduction (5th ed). New York: Addison-Wesley Publishers Inc.

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