Chapter 3: perception, attribution and diversity

Question 1

What is perception?

Answer 1

to provide order and meaning to the environment

The process of interpreting the messages of our senses

Question 2

what do people base their actions on, but it is not reality itself?

Answer 2

the interpretation of reality that their perceptual system provides

Question 3

what are the components of perception?

Answer 3

perceiver

target

situational context

Question 4

what do the components of perception do to the perceiver?

Answer 4

Each component influences the perceiver’s impression or interpretation of the target

Question 5

what are the factors that influence the perceiver?

Answer 5

experience

motivational state

emotional state

Question 6

what are the steps of the Bruner’s Model of the Perceptual Process

Answer 6

1. Perceiver encounters an unfamiliar target,

the perceiver is very open to the informational cues in the target and the situation.

2. The perceiver will actively seek out cues to resolve ambiguity.
3. As the perceiver encounters some familiar cues, a crude categorization of the target is made.
4. The search for cues then becomes less open and more selective.
5. The perceiver will search for cues that confirm the categorization of the target.

Question 7

what are the characteristics of Bruner’s Model of the Perceptual Process

Answer 7

Perception is selective

Perceptual constancy

Perceptual consistency

Question 8

Basic Biases in Person Perception

Answer 8

Primacy Effect

Recency Effect

Central traits

Implicit Personality Theories

Projections

Stereotyping

Question 9

primacy effect

Answer 9

first impressions

Question 10

recency effect

Answer 10

last impressions

Question 11

central traits

Answer 11

see only what you want to see

Question 12

projections

Answer 12

Attribution of own thoughts / feelings on another

Question 13

stereotyping

Answer 13

Categorizing/generalizing someone on the basis of the group that person belongs to

Question 14

what is attribution?

Answer 14

the process by which we assign causes/motives to explain people’s behaviour

Question 15

what are the two plausible cause of behavior ?

Answer 15

Dispositional factors (internal)

Situational factors (external)

Question 16

Dispositional factors (internals)

Answer 16

Intelligence, greed, friendliness, or laziness

Question 17

Situational factors (external)

Answer 17

Bad weather, good luck, proper tools, or poor advice

Question 18

what are the three attribution questions?

Answer 18

1. Does the person engage in the behaviour regularly and consistently? (Consistency cues)
2. Do most people engage in the behaviour, or is it unique to this person? (Consensus cues)
3. Does the person engage in the behaviour in many situations, or is it distinctive to one situation? (Distinctiveness cues)

Question 19

what are the three biases in attribution?

Answer 19

Fundamental attribution error

Actor-observer effect

Self-serving bias

Question 20

Actor-observer effect

Answer 20

things go wrong, I blame it on situation

observer attributes my behavior to dispositional factors

Question 21

Self-serving bias

Answer 21

taking credit when you are successful

denying failures

Question 22

what is workforce diversity?

Answer 22

differences among recruits and employees in characteristics, such as gender, race, age, religion, cultural background, physical ability, or sexual orientation

Question 23

what influences a perceiver’s perceptions?

Answer 23

experiences lead to expectation

motions influence perception

Question 24

what is perceptual defense?

Answer 24

Tendency for the perceptual system to defend the perceiver against unpleasant emotions

People often “see what they want to see” & “hear what they want to hear”

Our perceptual system works to ensure we do not see or hear things that are threatening

Question 25

can a perception change if a situation changes, but the perceiver and the target perceived remain the same?

Answer 25

yeee

it can change alongside the situation

Question 26

does the perceiver use all the information provided by the target?

Answer 26

nah boy

he can’t, or doesn’t

Question 27

what type of target are susceptible to interpretation and the addition of meaning

Answer 27

Ambiguous targets

Question 28

from three important characteristics of Bruner’s perceptual process, what does it mean for perception to be selective?

Answer 28

Perceivers don’t use all the available cues

Question 29

from three important characteristics of Bruner’s perceptual process, what does perceptual constancy mean?

Answer 29

The tendency for the target to be perceived in the same way over time & across situations.

Question 30

from three important characteristics of Bruner’s perceptual process, what does perceptual consistency mean?

Answer 30

We want things to be the same.

Tendency to select, ignore, and distort cues so that they fit together to for a homogeneous picture of the target

Question 31

implicit personality theory

Answer 31

traits that go together

personal theories that people have about which p ersonality characteristics go together.

Question 32

what does the attribution theory explain?

Answer 32

attribution is the process by which we assign causes or motives to explain people’s behaviour

important goal is to determine whether some behavior is caused by dispositional or situational factors

Question 33

in attribution biases, what does the fundamental attribution error explain?

Answer 33

tendency to overemphasize dispositional explanations for behaviour at the expense of situational explanations

we often observe people in constrained and constant situations and fail to realize that observed behavior is distinctive to a particular situation

Question 34

what are positive factors of valuing diversity?

Answer 34

the basic fairness of valuing diversity

proper management can yield strategic and competitive advantages

superior financial performance

Question 35

What can organizations do to achieve and manage a diverse workforce?

Answer 35

Select enough minority members to get them beyond token status.

Encourage teamwork that brings minority and majority members together.

Ensure that those making career decisions about employees have accurate information about
them.

Train people to be aware of stereotypes and to value diversity.