Chapter 2- Perception And Communicarion Flashcards
What is perception
Learned not an innate ability
When does perception occur
When we sense data
Sight hearing smell taste touch
Is transmitted to the brain
Define perception
The process of selecting
Organizing
And interpreting sensory information
Is seeing the same as perceiving
Nope
Why is it important to study perception?
The relationship between comm and perception is reciprocal and because we often communicate on the basis of different perceptions
Example of reciprocal relationship
If a significant other told you to lose a few pounds. Would you take it as a compliment or insult?
What is our perception of reality made out of?
Communication
What is an example of someone else’s perceptions becoming a reality?
Friend tells you not to enroll in a professors class because he grades bad and treats kids poorly
Means you won’t enroll in class because teacher is mean= now your perception of the teacher is that he’s mean
What is different reality?
Ones perception of a noun is not the same as another’s perception
People have different realities and perceptions
An example of different reality?
The “mean professor” is actually cool and isn’t unreasonable. It makes you wonder why your friend had a weird assumption about him
What does competent communication involve?
Speakers and listeners who communicate freely and openly about their and others perceptions and what influences their perceptions
Does competent communication maintain perspectives yet consider opposing information?
Yes
What are he stages in the perception process
Selection
Organization
And interpretation
Define selection
We select from the environment the stimuli we want to attend (perceive)
Example of selection
Walking into my comm class and not remember smells or who all I passed by in class
What two stimuli fall under selection
Salience
Vividness
Define salience
The stimuli that is selected from the environment based on its interest, use, and meaning to us
Example of salience
At the store and you pay no attention to the convo around you. Then suddenly someone says your name and you start listening
This is because our names are important to us
Define vividness
They are noticeable
Example of vividness
A loud girl
A tall boy
The student that says too many “y’know?”
Define organization
We categorize different stimuli we have selected from the environment and make sense of it
What are the four ways of organization?
Schemas
Figure- ground
Proximity and similarity
Closure
Define schemas
Mental plates that enable us to organize and classify stimuli into manageable groups or categories
What are schemas, typically?
General views of people and their social roles
Example of schemas
Categorize others based off of: Appearance (pretty ugly fat) Group membership (religion, political Status) Roles (parent student professor) Or an absent memory
What is a more specific example of schemas
Friend asks me to babysit 5 year old child
I have the schemas “young children have short attention spans”
What do we risk with schemas
Stereotyping
Define figure ground organization
A portion of stimuli selected from the environment is the focal point of our attention and the rest is placed on the background
Example of figure-ground organization
When we hear multiple conversations in public but our minds only focus on one. The rest fades in the background
Another one: the odd shapes unless I can see east
What are the three ways we can organize our perceptions
Schemas
Figure ground
Proximity and similarity
Closure
Define proximity
When we group stimuli that are physically close to each other
Examples of proximity
If the professor talks about the class getting low scores on a test, then calls your name to speak after class. But then the professor wants to talk about something completely different
Define similarity
We group elements on size, shape, color, and other characteristics
Example of similarity
Jocks- loud and obnoxious
Artists- introverted and quiet
Define closure
Filling in the missing pieces to form a complete picture
Example of closure
Filling in missing information to make sense of your communications to understand people
Ex- explaining actions of an acquaintance who won’t leave a cheating significant other
Define interpretation
We selected and organized the stimuli from the environment and not we assign meaning to the stimuli
Example of interpretation
If we see our roommate (selection)
Frowning (organization)
Unhappy (interpretation)
What is interpretation influenced by
Expectancy and familiarity
Define expectancy
What we expect to perceive
What happens in expectancy
We are accustomed to stimuli in a retain way and don’t perceive the obvious
An example of expectancy
Written a paper
Proof read it
And still didn’t catch the obvious misspellings
Define familiarity
How familiar we are with the stimuli
What does familiarity add
What we expect to perceive
Example of familiarity
Getting a paper back that has words written twice because we are used to seeing what we write that we neglect the word written twice
How do expectancy and familiarity work together
Used to seeing things a certain way, that you don’t expect for t to change
Example of familiarity and expectancy WORKING together
Your friend gets a hair cut, braces off, shaved beard, and you don’t notice because you were not expecting a change in their familiar appearance
Does our reality match the reality of others? Even if we perceive the same stimuli
Nope
What can result from perceiving things differently
Various perceptual errors and biases
Why do perceptual biases occur?
We all perceive things differently
What can perceptual biases effect
How we communicate with others
How we perceive others communication
How we interpret and evaluate others behavior
What is an example of a worse case scenario of a perceptual bias?
An employee has the tag- low productivity
Supervisor thinks it’s a defect or a negative characteristic. And might deny raise or result to termination
BUT employee might have bad coworkers or faulty equipment
In what two ways can our perceptions of sense data be biased
SELECTIVE attention
SELECTIVE perception
Define SELECTIVE attention
When we ignore certain parts of a stimulus and attend to others
Example of SELECTIVE attention
Parents- “well buy you a car if you pay for the gas insurance and maintenance
Child only hears “well buy you a car”
Define SELECTIVE perception
Occurs when we see what we want to see, hear what we want to hear, and believe what we want to believe
Example of SELECTIVE perception
Love is blind
Someone in love will ignore bad characteristics and only see the good
What are the three main perceptual biases
Selectivity
Confusing fact wth inference
Attributional errors
Define inference
Interpretation based on a fact
Example of an inference
“She wore an ugly dress”
“He left the airport a long time ago.”
Define facts
Independently verifiable by others such as she wore a red dress
He left for the airport at 7:15 am
What are facts ascertained by
And how is this different than inference
After Observation
Inferences can be made anytime
Do facts approach certainty?
Yes
And inferences have various degrees of probability
Which is limited? Facts or inferences?
Facts
Inferences are unlimited
Which leads to more disagreement? Inferences or facts
Inferences
Facts lead to agreement
What can confusing facts with inferences lead to
Perceptual biases and problematic communication
Define attributions
Reasons for or causes of behavior
Who is the father of attribution theory?
Fritz Heider
Define attribution theory
Explains exactly how we create explanations or attach meaning to our own or another’s behavior
Define fundamental attribution error
When we overemphasize inherent characteristics or personality and underemphasize situational factors when we explain the reasons for others behavior
