Chapter 3: Perception Flashcards
Perception
the process of interpreting the messages of our senses to provide order and meaning to the environment.
Components of Perception
The perceiver, The target and the situation
Perceptual defence
= the tendency for the perceptual system to defend the perceiver against unpleasant emotions
- the perceiver’s experience, needs, and emotions can affect their perceptions of a target
The Target
- perception involves interpretation and the addition of meaning to the target, and ambiguous targets are especially susceptible to interpretation and addition
- the perceiver does not or cannot always use all the information provided by the target
The Situation (situational context)
adds information about the target
Fast vs. Slow Thinking…
- Conscious vs. nonconscious (implicit) thought - Type I and Type II thinking
Type II thinking: Happens quickly, outside of our awareness, efficient, Implicit biases (also called unconscious biases, nonconscious biases)
Social Identity Theory (Self-Categorization)
a theory that states that people form perceptions of themselves based on their personal characteristics and memberships in social categories.
What is our self composed of?
a personal identity (interests, abilities, and traits) and
a social identity (based on our perception that we belong to various social groups, such as our gender, nationality, religion, occupation…)
prototypes
a member of a category that embodies the most typical attributes of that category
Common Perceptual Biases/Errors…
- Selective Perception
- Primacy/Recency Effects
- Halo/Horn Effect
- Projection Bias
- Reliance on central traits
- Implicit personality theories
- Stereotyping
Implicit personality theories
personal theories that people have about which personality characteristics go together
Example: Expecting hardworking people to also be honest or believing that people with average intelligence tend to be friendly.
Stereotyping
the tendency to generalize about people in a certain social category and ignore variations among them (Favorable and Unfavorable)
Consequences of Stereotyping
Can result in unfairness for individuals
* fewer opportunities
* unfair allocation of resources (e.g., money)
* can negatively affect how we treat individuals (may lead to self-fulfilling prophecies), etc.
Stereotyping can interfere with
- accurate selection/hiring decisions
- accurate assessment of performance
- performance management
- diversity
Perceptual Constancy
The tendency to perceive a target the same way over time or across situations
Perceptual Consistency
The tendency to select, ignore, and distort cues to create a consistent and homogeneous image of the target, often distorting contradictory cues to fit the existing image.
