chapter 6 - perception

Question 1

perception

Answer 1

a process by which individuals organize and interpret sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment
- people’s behaviour is based on their perception of what reality is, not reality itself

Question 2

factors that influence perception

Answer 2

• factors can reside in the perceiver, the object/thing, the situation
• interpretation of what you see is influenced by your personal characteristics
• context matters
• relationship of a target to its background

Question 3

attribution theory

Answer 3

tries to explain the ways we judge people differently depending on the meaning we attribute to a behaviour
- we attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally caused
- determination depends on 3 factors: distinctiveness, consensus, consistency

Question 4

internal causation

Answer 4

behaviours that observers believe to be under the personal control of another individual

Question 5

external causation

Answer 5

what we imagine the situation forced the individual to do

Question 6

self serving bias

Answer 6

the tendency of individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors and put the blame for their failures on external factors

Question 7

selective perception

Answer 7

any characteristic that makes a person, object or event stand out will increase the probability that it will be perceived
- we select according to our interests, background, experience, and attitudes

Question 8

halo effect

Answer 8

the tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic

Question 9

contrast effect

Answer 9

evaluation of a persons characteristics that is affected by comparisons with other, recently encountered people who rank higher or lower on the same characteristic

Question 10

social identity theory

Answer 10

a psychological theory of the social self, intergroup relations, and group processes
- a basic premise is that social category membership defines the individual at least in part
- people belong to many social categories that vary in importance to them, and each comes with norms defining how one should think, feel, act

Question 11

stereotyping

Answer 11

judging someone on the basis of their perception of the group to which they belong

Question 12

link between perception and individual decision making

Answer 12

• the way individuals make decisions are largely based off their perception
• perception helps us decide what is relevant to the problem

Question 13

rational decision making model

Answer 13

define the problem
identify the decision criteria
allocate weights to the criteria
develop alternatives
evaluate the alternatives
select the best alternative

Question 14

bounded rationality

Answer 14

a process of making decisions by consulting simplified models that extract the essential features from the problems without capturing all their complexity

Question 15

intuitive decision making

Answer 15

a non-conscious process created from distilled experience, occurs outside conscious thought and relies on holistic associations, or links between disparate pieces of information
- is fast
- affectively charged (engages emotion)
- not rational
- highly prone to stereotype

Question 16

common biases and error in decision making

Answer 16

decision makers engage in bounded rationality but also allow systematic biases and error to creep into their judgement
- people tend to heavily rely on experience, impulses, gut feelings, and rules of thumb

Question 17

how to reduce bias

Answer 17

focus on goals
look for information that disconfirms your beliefs
don’t try to create meaning out of random events
increase your options

Question 18

overconfidence bias

Answer 18

individuals whose intellectual and interpersonal abilities are weakest are the most likely to overestimate their performance and ability
- negative relationship between entrepreneurs optimism and performance of their new ventures

Question 19

anchoring bias

Answer 19

a tendency to fixate on initial information and fail to adequately adjust for subsequent information
- anchors are widely used by people in professions in which persuasion skills are important
- whenever negotiations take place

Question 20

confirmation bias

Answer 20

represents a case of selective perception
we seek out information that reaffirms our past choices - discount information that contradicts our past choices
- tend to accept at face value information that confirms our preconceived views
- skeptical of info that challenges them

Question 21

availability bias

Answer 21

our tendency to base judgements on information readily available

Question 22

escalation of commitment

Answer 22

refers to our staying with a decision even if there is clear evidence its wrong
- occurs when individuals view themselves as responsible for the outcome

Question 23

risk aversion

Answer 23

the tendency to prefer a sure gain of moderate amount over a riskier outcome, even if the riskier outcome may be a higher payout
- can be harmful or beneficial
- considered a form of bias when out risk perceptions are substantially misaligned with objective reality

Question 24

hindsight bias

Answer 24

the tendency to believe falsely, after the outcome is known, that we would have accurately predicted it

Question 25

organizational constraints on decision making

Answer 25

• the organizations reward system influences decision makers by suggesting which choices have better personal payoffs
• if the organization rewards risk aversion, managers are more likely to make conservative decision

Question 26

3 ethical decision criteria

Answer 26

1. utilitarianism: proposes making decisions solely on the basis of their outcomes
2. whistle blowers: individuals who report unethical behaviour
3. impose and enforce rules fairly and impartially to ensure justice or an equitable distribution of benefits and costs (reduces risk taking)

Question 27

3 stage model of creativity

Answer 27

1. causes of creative behaviour: creative potential, creative environment
2. creative behaviour: problem formulation, info gathering, idea generation, idea evaluation
3. creative outcomes: novelty, usefulness

Question 28

problem formulation

Answer 28

the stage of creative behaviour in which we identify a problem or opportunity that requires a solution

Question 29

information gathering

Answer 29

the stage when possible solutions to a problem incubate in an individuals mind

Question 30

idea generation

Answer 30

the process in which we develop possible solutions to a problem from relevant information and knowledge

Question 31

idea evaluation

Answer 31

process in which we evaluate potential solutions to identify the best one

Question 32

creative potential

Answer 32

• intelligent people are more creative
• openness to experience correlates with creativity because open individuals are less conformists
• expertise most important predictor of creative potential

Question 33

creative environment

Answer 33

• intrinsic motivation correlates with creative outcomes
• creative behaviour does not always result in creative outcome