Chapter 3: perception, attribution and diversity Flashcards
What is perception?
to provide order and meaning to the environment
The process of interpreting the messages of our senses
what do people base their actions on, but it is not reality itself?
the interpretation of reality that their perceptual system provides
what are the components of perception?
perceiver
target
situational context
what do the components of perception do to the perceiver?
Each component influences the perceiver’s impression or interpretation of the target
what are the factors that influence the perceiver?
experience
motivational state
emotional state
what are the steps of the Bruner’s Model of the Perceptual Process
- Perceiver encounters an unfamiliar target,
the perceiver is very open to the informational cues in the target and the situation.
- The perceiver will actively seek out cues to resolve ambiguity.
- As the perceiver encounters some familiar cues, a crude categorization of the target is made.
- The search for cues then becomes less open and more selective.
- The perceiver will search for cues that confirm the categorization of the target.
what are the characteristics of Bruner’s Model of the Perceptual Process
Perception is selective
Perceptual constancy
Perceptual consistency
Basic Biases in Person Perception
Primacy Effect
Recency Effect
Central traits
Implicit Personality Theories
Projections
Stereotyping
primacy effect
first impressions
recency effect
last impressions
central traits
see only what you want to see
projections
Attribution of own thoughts / feelings on another
stereotyping
Categorizing/generalizing someone on the basis of the group that person belongs to
what is attribution?
the process by which we assign causes/motives to explain people’s behaviour
what are the two plausible cause of behavior ?
Dispositional factors (internal)
Situational factors (external)
Dispositional factors (internals)
Intelligence, greed, friendliness, or laziness
Situational factors (external)
Bad weather, good luck, proper tools, or poor advice
what are the three attribution questions?
- Does the person engage in the behaviour regularly and consistently? (Consistency cues)
- Do most people engage in the behaviour, or is it unique to this person? (Consensus cues)
- Does the person engage in the behaviour in many situations, or is it distinctive to one situation? (Distinctiveness cues)
what are the three biases in attribution?
Fundamental attribution error
Actor-observer effect
Self-serving bias
Actor-observer effect
things go wrong, I blame it on situation
observer attributes my behavior to dispositional factors
Self-serving bias
taking credit when you are successful
denying failures
what is workforce diversity?
differences among recruits and employees in characteristics, such as gender, race, age, religion, cultural background, physical ability, or sexual orientation
what influences a perceiver’s perceptions?
experiences lead to expectation
motions influence perception
what is perceptual defense?
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
can a perception change if a situation changes, but the perceiver and the target perceived remain the same?
yeee
it can change alongside the situation
does the perceiver use all the information provided by the target?
nah boy
he can’t, or doesn’t
what type of target are susceptible to interpretation and the addition of meaning
Ambiguous targets
from three important characteristics of Bruner’s perceptual process, what does it mean for perception to be selective?
Perceivers don’t use all the available cues
from three important characteristics of Bruner’s perceptual process, what does perceptual constancy mean?
The tendency for the target to be perceived in the same way over time & across situations.
from three important characteristics of Bruner’s perceptual process, what does perceptual consistency mean?
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
implicit personality theory
traits that go together
personal theories that people have about which p ersonality characteristics go together.
what does the attribution theory explain?
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
in attribution biases, what does the fundamental attribution error explain?
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
what are positive factors of valuing diversity?
the basic fairness of valuing diversity
proper management can yield strategic and competitive advantages
superior financial performance
What can organizations do to achieve and manage a diverse workforce?
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.