Lecture 2: Perception, Attribution and Decision Making

Question 1

what are the 3 steps of perception?

Answer 1

1. register sensory information (see, hear etc)
2. interpret/make judgements (intellectually, emotionally, psychologically, cognitively)
3. respond to the data thru your behaviour

Question 2

what is social cognition?

Answer 2

how we process, store and apply info in the social context… and how this informs our behaviour

Question 3

what is the theory of mind test?

Answer 3

sally and anne looking for the ball in the basket v the box

Question 4

what do people sometimes forget influences theory of mind?

Answer 4

their culture and experience, and these influences can muddy our interpretation of what we think others are thinking

Question 5

how do our brains fail us with ambiguous stimuli?

Answer 5

we form patterns from an ambiguous image and these patterns or what we see can be very stubborn, and even after the actual image is pointed out, our brain can sometimes be unable to reject the patterns originally saw

Question 6

in what 3 main ways are we expected to pass judgement on others in organisations?

Answer 6

1. attribute motives - draw conclusions about why people do things
2. performance mgmt - conclude on how well people did things in the past
3. recruitment, selection and promotion - predict how well people will do things in the future

Question 7

what does attribution theory suggest?

Answer 7

that humans are intentional and do things for a reason

Question 8

what is the self “serving nature of attribution errors”?

Answer 8

I succeed because of internal factors and fail because of external factors - whereas for others it is vice a versa

Question 9

what is the contrast effect?

Answer 9

“if you want to look attractive, stand next to someone unattractive”

• highlights that one may not be using objective criteria to measure performance

Question 10

what is confirmation bias?

Answer 10

we see what confirms the assumption that we already had… we look for data that confirms what we were already thinking

Question 11

what is the halo effect?

Answer 11

the assumption that if someone is good/bad at something, then they are good/bad at everything

Question 12

what is the effect of anchoring? give eg

Answer 12

basically first impressions sticking - it is the tendency to use the first piece of information that we get about someone to be the yard stick against subsequent experiences, and place more value on that first piece of information
eg, 30 second recruitment seminar

Question 13

what is the availability effect? give eg

Answer 13

tendency for people to base judgements on info that is readily available.
eg, beautiful is good, someone who is good looking is therefore good

Question 14

what is escalation of commitment?

Answer 14

an increased commitment to a previous decisions even if it is not the best course of action (in spite of negative info on this decision)

Question 15

what is “non-decision making”?

Answer 15

relying on taken for granted conventions to make decisions for us… not making decisions as we let the circumstances around us influence the progress

Question 16

T or F, people prescribe height to leadership? give example?

Answer 16

ceos in america are taller than average

Question 17

why are interviews, when used alone, not the best way of hiring people?

Answer 17

because they are a poor predictor of performance

Question 18

what are the two organisational impacts of biases?

Answer 18

recruitment and selection

performance mgmt

Question 19

how can biases impact performance mgmt?

Answer 19

we tend to overestimate the performance of above avg performers going forward, and vice a versa for below avg performers

Question 20

what is the double curse theory?

Answer 20

that our lack of skill deprives us of the ability to recognise our performance is poor in the first place, as well as depriving us of the ability to improve on poor performance

Question 21

when are we less likely to recognise our deficiencies?

Answer 21

when we are less skilled and knowledgeable

Question 22

outline dunning 2003 study

Answer 22

asked students to predict their performance before an exam… found that bottom 75% overestimated their performance while top 25% underestimated their ranking in the class

Question 23

what is another name for the double curse theory?

Answer 23

the dunning kruger effect

Question 24

who wrote about bounded rationality?

Answer 24

herbert simon

Question 25

why does simon think humans can never be truly rational?

Answer 25

because we have limited info processing capabilities

Question 26

what does simon suggest we do because our rationality/processing is limited?

Answer 26

we make decisions on the basis of satisficing

Question 27

what is satisficing?

Answer 27

setting minimum criteria that needs to be met before we can make a decision, and that once this minimum criteria has been met, we are “satisficed” and will make a decision

Question 28

how is bounded rationality, or decision making also a social process?

Answer 28

because decisions are made using a combination of “facts” and values that have social origins…
the information that we have been given in a social context influences our biases which in turn influence our decisions

Question 29

what are the different types of decision rules?

Answer 29

• formal decision making rules
• experiential decision making rules
• culturally based decision making rules

Question 30

eg of formal decision making rules

Answer 30

look right, then left then right when crossing the road

Question 31

eg of experiential decision making rules

Answer 31

understanding how fast traffic travels at different areas or on diff. roads

Question 32

eg of culturally based decision making rules

Answer 32

do other road users obey the rules - jaywalking

Question 33

what are the other two names for heuristics ?

Answer 33

rules of thumb

institutionalised decision rules