ch 6 Perception and Individual Decision Making

Question 1

Perception

Answer 1

perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment

Question 2

situational factors influencing perception

Answer 2

time
work setting
social setting

Question 3

factors of perceiver that influence perception

Answer 3

attitudes 
motives 
interests 
experiences 
expectations

Question 4

influential factors in the perception target (object of perception)

Answer 4

novelty 
motion 
sounds 
size 
background 
proximity 
similarity

Question 5

peoples behaviors are based on…

Answer 5

their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself

Question 6

Attribution Theory

Answer 6

we judge others differently depending on the meaning we attribute to their behaviors
-attribution theory suggests that when we observe an individuals behavior, we attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally caused

Question 7

explain the 3 determination factors used in attribution theory

Answer 7

1. distinctiveness is whether an individual displays different behaviors in different situations
2. consensus. a behavior shows consensus if everyone who faces a similar situation responds in the same way
3. consistency is whether a person responds the same way over time

Question 8

fundamental attribution error

Answer 8

our tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgements about the behavior of others

Question 9

Self-Serving Bias

Answer 9

the tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors and put the blame for failures on external factors

Question 10

selective perception

Answer 10

the tendency to selectively interpret what one sees on the basis of ones interests, background, experience, and attitudes
*we do this because we are not able to observe everything going on around us

*this is one of many shortcuts we use to make judgements and sometimes these shortcuts lead to perceptual distortions

Question 11

The Halo Effect

Answer 11

this occurs when we draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic

Question 12

Contrast Effects

Answer 12

Perception can be distorted because we don’t evaluate people in isolation.
contrast effect is when the evaluation of a persons characteristics is affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics

*this distortion tends to happen between interviewing job candidates

Question 13

stereotyping

Answer 13

judging someone on the basis of ones perception of the group to which that person belongs
* we have to monitor ourselves to prevent ourselves from applying unfair stereotypes to our evaluations and decisions

Question 14

interviewers apply shortcuts during Employment Interviews

Answer 14

-evidence indicates that interviewers make perceptual judgments that are often inaccurate

Question 15

Performance expectations

Answer 15

evidence demonstrates that people will attempt to validate their perceptions of reality even when they are faulty

Question 16

Self-fulfilling Prophecy (the pygmalion effect)

Answer 16

a situation in which a person inaccurately perceives a second person, and the resulting expectations cause the second person to behave in ways consistent with the original perception

Question 17

performance evaluations

Answer 17

are often subjective and problematic because of the different perceptual errors (contrast effect, halo effect etc)

Question 18

decisions

Answer 18

choosing from 2 or more alternatives

Question 19

decision making occurs as a reaction to a problem. what is a problem?

Answer 19

a problem is a discrepancy between some current state of affairs and some desired state

Question 20

rational

Answer 20

characterized by making consistent, value-maximizing choices within specific constraints

Question 21

steps in the rational decision making model

Answer 21

1. define
2. identify criteria
3. allocate weights to criteria
4. develop alternatives
5. evaluate alternatives
6. select best alternative

Question 22

bounded rationality

Answer 22

a process of making decisions by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity

Question 23

intuitive decision making

Answer 23

an unconscious process created out of distilled experience

Question 24

techniques for reducing biases and errors

Answer 24

• focus on goals
• look for belief disconfirming info
• dont try to create meaning out of random events
• increase your options

Question 25

overconfidence bias

Answer 25

we tend to be overconfident in our abilities and the abilities of others and we are usually not aware of this bias
individuals who’s intellectual and interpersonal abilities are weakest are most likely to overestimate their performance and ability

Question 26

anchoring bias

Answer 26

fixating on initial information as a starting point and failing to adequately adjust for subsequent information

Question 27

confirmation bias

Answer 27

this is a type of selective perception
the tendency to seek out information that reaffirms past choices and to discount information that contradicts past judgements

Question 28

availability bias

Answer 28

the tendency for people to base judgments on information that is readily available

Question 29

escalation of commitment

Answer 29

an increased commitment to a previous decision in spite of negative information
-this is likely to occur when individuals view themselves as responsible for the outcome

Question 30

randomness error

Answer 30

tendency to believe we can predict the outcome of random events
-trying to create meaning from random events impairs decision making

Question 31

risk aversion

Answer 31

the tendency to prefer a sure thing instead of a risky outcome

• ambitious ppl with power that can be taken away appear to be especially risk averse
• ppl will more likely engage in risk-seeking behavior for negative outcomes, and risk averse behavior for positive outcomes, when under stress

Question 32

hindsight bias

Answer 32

tendency to falsely believe that one has accurately predicted the outcome of an event, after that outcome is actually known

Question 33

utilitarianism

Answer 33

decisions are made solely on the basis of their outcomes or consequences

Question 34

behavioral ethics

Answer 34

analyzes how people actually behave when confronted with ethical dilemmas

Question 35

creativity

Answer 35

the ability to produce novel and useful ideas

Question 36

three stage model of creativity

Answer 36

creativity involves three stages:

1. causes (creative potential and creative environment)
2. creative behavior
3. creative outcomes

Question 37

what are the four steps to creative behavior used in the three stage model of creativity?

Answer 37

problem formulation
information gathering
idea generation
idea evaluation