Conflict Essay
Perception and Communication
“But, y’all can see me now ‘cause you don’t see with your eye----you perceive with your mind.”
Gorillaz, “Clint Eastwood”
The Process of Human Perception
- The active process of creating meaning by selecting, organizing, and interpreting people, objects, events, situations and other phenomena
Selection
- We select to attend to certain stimuli based on a number of factors:
The qualities of the phenomena
Bright, loud, unusual
Our motives and needs
Culture
Organization
- Constructivism – we organize and interpret experience by applying cognitive structures called schemata
Prototype
Personal construct
Stereotype
Script
Interpretation
- The subjective process of explaining our perceptions in ways that make sense to us
- Attributions: explanation of why something happened or why someone acts a certain way
Interpretation Continued
- Attributional Errors
Self-serving bias
leads us to make internal and stable attributions for our positive actions
We construct attributions that serve our interests
For negative actions and failures, we attribute them to external and unstable events that are beyond our control.
Slide*
Influences on Perception
- Physiological Factors shape perceptions.
The 5 senses are not the same for everyone
Being tired, sick, stressed, happy affects perceptions
- Age
With age comes experience
Influences perceptions of time
- Cognitive Abilities affect how and what we perceive.
Person-centeredness= the ability to perceive another as a unique individual
Empathy= the ability to feel with another person
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Slide*
Influences on Perception
- Roles shape our perceptions (career)
- Expectations
What you think, suppose, want to happen
- Culture
Beliefs, values, understandings, practices, and ways of interpreting experience that a number of people share
Social location: the social groups that we belong to shape how we see the world
A point of view that you adopt
How you make sense of the life and community
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Guidelines for Improving Perception
And Communication
- Recognize that all perceptions are partial and subjective
- Avoid mind reading
- Check perceptions with others
- Distinguish between facts and inferences
- Guard against the self-serving bias
- Monitor labels (he is hyper or he is excited)
Sample Test Question
Nikki believes that she is lovable and that people are loving and can be trusted. Nikki has a ______ attachment style.
secure
fearful
dismissive
anxious-ambivalent
Sample Test Question
The active process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting people, objects, events, and situations is known as _________.
a. prototypes
b. perception
c. self-serving bias
d. cognitive schemata
Sample Test Question
Julie notices that she is the only person who has not spoken in a group conversation. She reminds herself to be involved, so she speaks up. Julie’s noticing and changing her communication to be more effective is an example of:
- A. irreversibility.
- B. monitoring.
- C. person-centeredness.
- D. systemic thinking.
PERCEPTION
- Dove beauty:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAnRQncZ_uk
- Head drop:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLi-k4SlwSE&feature=related
- Beauty sketches
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=litXW91UauE
- Attention test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo
Slide*
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Interpretation
- The subjective process of explaining our perceptions in ways that make sense to us
- Attributions: explanation of why something happened or why someone acts a certain way
Locus: people’s actions
Stability: probability it will change
Specificity: certain circumstances or always
Responsibility: should he/she be held accountable
Influences on Perception
Implicit Personality Theory
- A collection of unspoken and sometimes unconscious assumptions about how various qualities fit together in human personalities
Example: people who are outgoing are ______
Friendly
Confident
Fun
Influences On Perception
- Physiology
- Age
- Culture
Social location
Roles
- Cognitive abilities
Cognitive complexity
Person centeredness
- Self
The Ladder of Abstraction
The Ladder of Abstraction
Abstract – not tangible; varies in degree of vagueness; conceptual; unclear; imprecise; increased abstractness increases potential for confusion
Concrete: exact, detailed, precise, accurate, particular; increased exactness increase competent communication
food, fruit, apple, _______
Thingy, tool, screwdriver, ___________