chapter 6 - perception Flashcards
perception
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
factors that influence perception
- 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
attribution theory
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
internal causation
behaviours that observers believe to be under the personal control of another individual
external causation
what we imagine the situation forced the individual to do
self serving bias
the tendency of individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors and put the blame for their failures on external factors
selective perception
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
halo effect
the tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic
contrast effect
evaluation of a persons characteristics that is affected by comparisons with other, recently encountered people who rank higher or lower on the same characteristic
social identity theory
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
stereotyping
judging someone on the basis of their perception of the group to which they belong
link between perception and individual decision making
- the way individuals make decisions are largely based off their perception
- perception helps us decide what is relevant to the problem
rational decision making model
define the problem
identify the decision criteria
allocate weights to the criteria
develop alternatives
evaluate the alternatives
select the best alternative
bounded rationality
a process of making decisions by consulting simplified models that extract the essential features from the problems without capturing all their complexity
intuitive decision making
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
common biases and error in decision making
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
how to reduce bias
focus on goals
look for information that disconfirms your beliefs
don’t try to create meaning out of random events
increase your options
overconfidence bias
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
anchoring bias
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
confirmation bias
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
availability bias
our tendency to base judgements on information readily available
escalation of commitment
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
risk aversion
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
hindsight bias
the tendency to believe falsely, after the outcome is known, that we would have accurately predicted it
organizational constraints on decision making
- 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
3 ethical decision criteria
- utilitarianism: proposes making decisions solely on the basis of their outcomes
- whistle blowers: individuals who report unethical behaviour
- impose and enforce rules fairly and impartially to ensure justice or an equitable distribution of benefits and costs (reduces risk taking)
3 stage model of creativity
- causes of creative behaviour: creative potential, creative environment
- creative behaviour: problem formulation, info gathering, idea generation, idea evaluation
- creative outcomes: novelty, usefulness
problem formulation
the stage of creative behaviour in which we identify a problem or opportunity that requires a solution
information gathering
the stage when possible solutions to a problem incubate in an individuals mind
idea generation
the process in which we develop possible solutions to a problem from relevant information and knowledge
idea evaluation
process in which we evaluate potential solutions to identify the best one
creative potential
- intelligent people are more creative
- openness to experience correlates with creativity because open individuals are less conformists
- expertise most important predictor of creative potential
creative environment
- intrinsic motivation correlates with creative outcomes
- creative behaviour does not always result in creative outcome
