Perception

Perception is the way people organize

and interpret the world around them in
order to give meaning to their
surroundings.
Peoples behavior is based on how they
interpret reality, not reality itself.
The world that is perceived is the world
that is behaviorally important.

Perception
Perception is influenced by:
the perceiver.
the target.
the situation.

Factors Influencing
Perception
Factors in the Perceiver:
attitudes.
motives.
interest.
experience.
expectations.

Factors Influencing
Perception
Factors in the Target:
motion.
sounds.
size.
background.
proximity.

Factors Influencing
Perception
Factors in the Situation:
time.
work setting.
social setting.

Characteristics and Beliefs of the

Perceivers Affecting Perception

Stereotyping Judging someone on the basis of ones

perception of the group to which that person belongs.

Halo effect Drawing a general positive impression about an

individual on the basis of a single characteristic.

Contrast effect Evaluating a persons characteristics that are

affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered
who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics.

Horn effect Drawing a general negative impression about an

individual on the basis of a single characteristic.

Introduction
Look at the picture Carefully

Contd.

What did you

Notice ?
Contd.

Perception

Did you notice that the man (1) overlapped a number of the
elements in the picture that appeared further way than he
did?
The man is also larger than objects which are in the distance.
Compare, for example, the size of the man's head and the
size of the windows in the building (4) across the bay (3).
Clearly if the man was in one of those buildings looking out
of the window his head would be much smaller than the
window.
But his head being closer is much larger.
The man's body also overlaps the water which means he is in
front of it.
Look at the building labeled (5) . It would appear to be
further way than the white building (4).
The white building is larger and overlaps the middle building.
However, the tower (6) is taller than any of the other objects
in the photo. Still it seems far away on the other side of the
bay.

Perception & Its

Importance

Perception can be defined as a process by which individuals

organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order
to give meaning to their environment.
What one perceives can be substantially different from objective
reality.
Not necessary but there is often disagreement.
For Eg: It is possible that all employees in a firm may view it as a
great place to work favorable working conditions, interesting job
assignments, good pay, an understanding and responsible
management BUT

Why is Perception Important ?

Simply because peoples behavior is based on their
perception of what reality is, not reality itself.

Factor Influencing
Why do individuals look at the same thing, yet perceive
Perception
it differently ??
Because..

A number of factors operate to shape and

sometimes distort perception.
Factors in perceiver such as attitudes,
motives, interests, experience & expectations.
Factors in the Situation such as time, work
setting & social setting.
Factors in the target such as sounds, size,
background, proximity.
Contd

 Divergent Attitudes influences

Perception
Factors in the perceiver
Attitude
Motives
Interests
Experience
Expectations
Factors in the situation
Time
Work Setting
Social Setting
Factors in the target
Novelty
Motion
Sounds
Size
Background
Proximity

perception.
Motive means unsatisfied need
which stimulates individuals and
may exert a strong influence on
their perceptions.
As our individual interests differs,
what one person notices in a
situation can differ from what
others perceive.
Just as interests narrows ones
focus, so do ones past experience
Expectation can also distort your
perceptions as you will see what
you expect to see.
The context in which we see
objects or events is important.
The relationship of a target to its
background influences perception.

PROCESS OF PERCEPTION

What is the perceptual process?

Perception.
The process by which people select,
organize, interpret, retrieve, and
respond to information.
Perceptual information is gathered from:

Sight.
Hearing.
Touch.
Taste.
Smell.

What is the perceptual

process?
Factors influencing the perceptual

process.
Characteristics of the perceiver.
Characteristics of the setting.
Characteristics of the perceived.

What is the perceptual

process?
Characteristics of the perceiver.
The perceptual process is

influenced by the perceivers:

Past experiences.
Needs or motives.
Personality.
Values and attitudes

What is the perceptual

process?
Characteristics of the setting.
The perceptual process is

influenced by the settings:

Physical context.
Social context.
Organizational context.

What is the perceptual

process?
Characteristics of the perceived.
The perceptual process is influenced

by characteristics of the perceived

person, object, or event, such as:
Contrast.
Intensity.
Figure-ground separation.
Size, Motion, Repetition or novelty.

What is the perceptual

process?
Stages of the perceptual

process.
Information attention and selection.
Organization of information.
Information interpretation.
Information retrieval.

What is the perceptual

process?
Information attention and selection.
Selective screening.
Lets in only a tiny proportion all the

information that bombards a person.

Two types of selective screening.
Controlled processing.
Screening without perceivers

conscious awareness.

What is the perceptual

process?
Organization of information.
Schemas.
Cognitive frameworks that represent

organized knowledge about a given

concept or stimulus developed through
experience.
Types of schemas.
Self schemas.
Person schemas.
Script schemas, Person-in-situation

schemas.

What is the perceptual

process?
Information interpretation.
Uncovering the reasons behind the ways

stimuli are grouped.

People may interpret the same

information differently or make different

attributions about information.

What is the perceptual

process?
Information retrieval.
Attention and selection, organization, and

interpretation are part of memory.

Information stored in memory must be

retrieved in order to be used.

What is the perceptual

process?
Response to the perceptual process.
Thoughts.
Feelings.
Actions.

What are common perceptual

distortions?

Common perceptual distortions

include:
Stereotypes or prototypes.
Halo effects.
Selective perception.
Projection.
Contrast effects.
Self-fulfilling prophecy.

What are common perceptual

distortions?
Stereotypes or prototypes.
Combines information based on the

category or class to which a person,

situation, or object belongs.
Strong impact at the organization stage.
Individual differences are obscured.

What are common perceptual

distortions?
Halo effects.
Occur when one attribute of a person or

situation is used to develop an overall

impression of the individual or situation.
Likely to occur in the organization stage.
Individual differences are obscured.
Important in the performance appraisal

process.

What are common perceptual

distortions?
Selective perception.
The tendency to single out those aspects

of a situation, person, or object that are

consistent with ones needs, values, or
attitudes.
Strongest impact is at the attention stage.
Perception checking with other persons

can help counter the adverse impact of

selective perception.

What are common perceptual

distortions?
Projection.
The assignment of ones personal

attributes to other individuals.

Especially likely to occur in interpretation

stage.
Projection can be controlled through a

high degree of self-awareness and

empathy.

What are common perceptual

distortions?
Contrast effects.
Occur when an individual is compared to

other people on the same characteristics

on which the others rank higher or lower.

What are common perceptual

distortions?
Self-fulfilling prophecy.
The tendency to create or find in another

situation or individual that which one

expected to find.
Also called the Pygmalion effect.
Can have either positive or negative

outcomes.
Managers should adopt positive and

optimistic approaches to people at work.

managers form
expectations of
workers
Mgrs behave
consistently
with expct
Managers
behaviors affect
workers

Self fulfilling
prophecy

Workers
respond to
treatment

Positive
expectations

Emotional &
professional
support given
Added exp &
boosted
confidence

Pygmalion effect

Good
performance

Negative
expectations
Emotional &
professional
support
withheld
Ltd exp &
lowered
confidence

golem effect

Poor
performance

How can the perceptual process

be managed?
Impression management.
A persons systematic attempt to behave in ways

that create and maintain desired impressions in

others eyes.
Successful managers:
Use impression management to enhance their

own images.
Are sensitive to other peoples use of

impression management

TECHNIQUE

INTENDED
OUTCOME

Disclosing obstacles

What a motivated &

competent person !

Playing dumb

Freedom to concentrate

Playing safe

Reputation for not making

mistakes

Expert citing

Impression of expertise &

good contacts

Opinion
conformity

Winning liking & respect

Flattery

Doing favors

How can the perceptual process

be managed?
Distortion management.
Managers should:
Balance automatic and controlled information

processing at the attention and selection

stage.
Broaden their schemas at the organizing stage.
Be attuned to attributions at the interpretation

stage.

What is attribution theory?

Attribution theory aids in perceptual

interpretation by focusing on how people

attempt to:
Understand the causes of a certain event.
Assess responsibility for the outcomes of the

event.
Evaluate the personal qualities of the people

involved in the event

What is attribution theory?

Internal versus external attributions of

causes of behavior.
Internal causes are under the individuals control.
External causes are within the persons

environment.

What is attribution theory?

Factors influencing internal and external

attributions.
Distinctiveness consistency of a persons

behavior across situations.

Consensus likelihood of others responding in a

similar way.
Consistency whether an individual responds the

same way across time.

What is attribution theory?

Fundamental attribution error.
Applies to the evaluation of someones else

behavior.
Attributing success to the influence of situational

factors.
Attributing failure to the influence of personal

factors

What is attribution theory?

Self-serving bias.
Applies to the evaluation of our own behavior.
Attributing success to the influence of personal

factors.
Attributing failure to the influence of situational

factors.

Honing perceptual skills

Knowing and perceiving oneself accurately:

removing the blind spots.

The Johari Window
Being empathic
Having positive attitudes
Enhancing self concept

Honing perceptual skills

Consciously avoiding common biases in

perceptions
Communicating with employees to erase

incorrect perceptions
Avoiding attributions.

ASPECTS OF ME THAT
I KNOW

OTHERS
KNOW

OTHERS DONT
KNOW

PUBLIC
AREA

PRIVATE
AREA

I DONT KNOW

BLIND
AREA

DARK
AREA