PERCEPTION

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Perception refers to the way we try to understand the world around us. We gather information through our five sense organs, but perception adds meaning to these sensory inputs.

Perception is the process by which we organize and interpret our sensory impressions in order to give meaning to the environment. Here, a situation may be the same but the interpretation of that situation by two individuals may be immensely different.

Perception is the set of processes by which an individual becomes aware of and interprets information about the environment.

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Versions of what we see

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Figure 11.2

What is Perceptual Process

• The Process by which people select, organize, interpret, retrieve and respond to information.

• The first process of perception is selection & attention• The process of perceptual selection is based on internal

factors & external factorsi) Internal – relating to the state of the individualii) External – the environment

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THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS

• PROCESS OF RECEIVING STIMULI • PROCESS OF SELECTING STIMULI• PROCESS OR ORGANIZING STIMULI • PROCESS OF INTERPRETING • PROCESS OF CHECKING• PROCESS OF REACTING 

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Fctors:govern the selection of stimulus)External factors Influencing

Selection

• Intensity – Adv, Strikes(generally, stimuli which are high in intensity are perceived more readily than those of low intensity)

• Size

• Contrast – differ from familiar

• Movement

• Repetition

• Familiarity

• Novelty

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Internal factors Influencing Selection

• Psychological need• Background• Experience• Personality• Self-acceptance

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Process of Organizing Stimuli

Grouping:• Similarity – stimuli which are similar are put together.• Proximity – objects or persons closer put together• Closure – Triangle• Figure – ground – tendency to keep something in focus and

the others in the background• Perceptual Constancy – tendency to stabilize perceptions

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Factors that attribute to the Process of Interpreting

• Perceptual set – Previously held beliefs• Stereo Typing(generally favorable or unfavorable

opinion a person holds for a particular group of person)

• Halo Effect(opinion or attitude towards a single person)positive & negative halo effect.

• Perceptual defense• (contextual factors)• Interpersonal context• Other person’s background

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Process of checking

• Comparing your perceptions with other people’s

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Process of reacting• Impression formation – judgmentAction may be covert or overtCovert action: the formation of opinionOvert action: is a definite action in response to the perception.Limitations1. Generalizations2. Surroundings3. Situational limitation – cannot show behaviors critical for

impression formation4. Preconceived Notions

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Perceptual Process Model

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Selective AttentionSelective Attention

Emotions andEmotions andBehaviorBehavior

Organization andOrganization andInterpretationInterpretation

Environmental StimuliEnvironmental Stimuli

Feeling Hearing Seeing Smelling TastingFeeling Hearing Seeing Smelling Tasting

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• The perceptions and judgments regarding a person’s actions are often significantly influenced by the assumptions we make about the person’s internal state.

• Attribution theory refers to the ways in which we judge people differently, depending on what meaning we attribute to a given behaviour.

• Whenever we observe the behaviour of an individual, we attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally caused.

• Attributions are found to strongly affect various functions in an organization, e.g. the process of employee performance evaluations, nature of supervision or guidance or the general attitude towards the organization in general.

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• There are often some errors or biases in our judgment about others. • When we make judgment about other people’s behaviour, we tend to

underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal or personal factors. This is called fundamental

attribution error.

• Another noticeable tendency, called self-serving bias, refers to the inclination for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors.

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