Chapter 4 - Communicating, Perceiving, and Understanding

Question 1

Why is perception important to the communication process?

Answer 1

Because when we communicate, we don’t just respond to other’s words; we respond to our perceptions of the way they look, sound, smell - and sometimes how they feel.

Question 2

Selection

Answer 2

The process of choosing which sensory information to focus on.

Question 3

Organization

Answer 3

The process by which one recognizes what sensory input represents.

Question 4

Interpretation

Answer 4

The act of assigning meaning to sensory information.

Question 5

Selective Attention

Answer 5

Consciously or unconsciously attending to just a narrow range of the full array of sensory information available.

Question 6

Cognitive Representation

Answer 6

The ability to form mental models of the world.

Question 7

Schemas

Answer 7

Cognitive structures that represent and individual’s understanding of a concept of person.

Question 8

Prototype

Answer 8

An idealized schema.

Question 9

Script

Answer 9

A relatively fixed sequence of events that functions as a guide or template for communication or behavior.

Question 10

Categorization

Answer 10

A cognitive process used to organize information by placing it into larger groupings of information.

Question 11

Label

Answer 11

A name assigned to a category based on one’s perception of the category.

Question 12

Stereotyping

Answer 12

Creating schemas that overgeneralize attributes of a specific group.

Question 13

Frame

Answer 13

A structure that shapes how people interpret their perceptions.

Question 14

Attribution Theory

Answer 14

Explanation of the processes we use to judge out own and other’s behavior.

Question 15

Attributional Bias

Answer 15

The tendency to attribute one’s own negative behavior to external causes and one’s positive actions to internal states.

Question 16

Self-Serving Bias

Answer 16

The tendency to give one’s self more credit than is die when good things happen and to accept too little responsibility for those things that go wrong.

Question 17

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 17

The tendency to attribute others’ negative behavior to internal causes and positive behaviors to external causes.

Question 18

How important is the role of interpretation in the perception process?

Answer 18

It’s very important. Our perception of the world will influence how we interpret the things that go on around us.

Question 19

What factors most influence how individuals interpret events?

Answer 19

The way people interpret their perceptions (framing), and the way we react to things other do. (attribution).

Question 20

What two cognitive processes help us organize what we perceive?

Answer 20

1) Cognitive Representation

2) Categorization

Question 21

Is stereotyping “normal”? When is it helpful? When is it harmful?

Answer 21

We all do it. It is helpful when trying to remember facts about a specific group of people, but harmful when we assume that all people within that group hold the same characteristics.

Question 22

Constructs

Answer 22

Categories people develop to help them organize information.

Question 23

Cognitive Complexity

Answer 23

The degree to which a person’s constructs are detailed, involved, or numerous.

Question 24

How do physical differences influence the perception process?

Answer 24

People who can’t hear certain things (like the adult-proof ringtone) are going to perceive things differently than the person who does hear it. The same rings true for all the senses.

Question 25

How does cognitive complexity influence the perception process?

Answer 25

The more knowledge or experience you have in a particular subject, the more different your perception will be when compared to someone with little knowledge in the area.

Question 26

Ethnocentrism

Answer 26

The tendency to view one’s own group as the standard against which all other groups are judged.

Question 27

Prejudice

Answer 27

Experiencing aversive or negative feelings toward a group as a whole or toward an individual because he or she belongs to a group.

Question 28

Ego-Defensive Function

Answer 28

The role prejudice plats in protecting individual’s sense of self-worth.

Question 29

Value-Expressive Function

Answer 29

The role played by prejudice in allowing people to view their own values, norms, and cultural practices as appropriate and correct.

Question 30

Cohort Effect

Answer 30

The process by which historical events influence the perceptions of people who grew up in a given generation and time period.

Question 31

Social Role

Answer 31

The specific position or positions one holds in a society.

Question 32

How is social comparison related to ethnocentrism and prejudice?

Answer 32

Social comparison simply categorizing people. It is related because when we place people in certain categories it changes the way we perceive those people. Ethnocentrism and prejudice are some of the ways those people are perceived.

Question 33

How is ethics relevant to the perception process?

Answer 33

The relate when speakers perceive and label other groups of people negatively and then use derogatory terms to refer to them.

Question 34

What is one skill you could develop that would most improve your perception process?

Answer 34

Focus on what people are saying, not other distractions.