NOT AN ESSAY! A DISCUSSION!

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Perception Process

2.1 Perception Process

L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Define perception.

2. Discuss how salience influences the selection of perceptual information.

3. Explain the ways in which we organize perceptual information.

4. Discuss the role of schemata in the interpretation of perceptual information.

Perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information. This process, which is

shown in Figure 2.1 "The Perception Process", includes the perception of select stimuli that pass through

our perceptual filters, are organized into our existing structures and patterns, and are then interpreted

based on previous experiences. Although perception is a largely cognitive and psychological process, how

we perceive the people and objects around us affects our communication. We respond differently to an

object or person that we perceive favorably than we do to something we find unfavorable. But how do we

filter through the mass amounts of incoming information, organize it, and make meaning from what

makes it through our perceptual filters and into our social realities? Selecting Information

We take in information through all five of our senses, but our perceptual field (the world around us)

includes so many stimuli that it is impossible for our brains to process and make sense of it all. So, as

information comes in through our senses, various factors influence what actually continues on through

the perception process. Susan T. Fiske and Shelley E. Taylor, Social Cognition, 2nd ed. (New York, NY:

McGraw Hill, 1991). Selecting is the first part of the perception process, in which we focus our attention

on certain incoming sensory information. Think about how, out of many other possible stimuli to pay

attention to, you may hear a familiar voice in the hallway, see a pair of shoes you want to buy from across

the mall, or smell something cooking for dinner when you get home from work. We quickly cut through

and push to the background all kinds of sights, smells, sounds, and other stimuli, but how do we decide

what to select and what to leave out?

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Figure 2.1 The Perception Process

We tend to pay attention to information that is salient. Salience is the degree to which something attracts

our attention in a particular context. The thing attracting our attention can be abstract, like a concept, or

concrete, like an object. For example, a person’s identity as a Native American may become salient when

they are protesting at the Columbus Day parade in Denver, Colorado. Or a bright flashlight shining in

your face while camping at night is sure to be salient. The degree of salience depends on three features.

Susan T. Fiske and Shelley E. Taylor, Social Cognition, 2nd ed. (New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 1991),

186. We tend to find salient things that are visually or aurally stimulating and things that meet our needs

or interests. Lastly, expectations affect what we find salient. Visual and Aural Stimulation

It is probably not surprising to learn that visually and/or aurally stimulating things become salient in our

perceptual field and get our attention. Creatures ranging from fish to hummingbirds are attracted to

things like silver spinners on fishing poles or red and yellow bird feeders. Having our senses stimulated

isn’t always a positive thing though. Think about the couple that won’t stop talking during the movie or

the upstairs neighbor whose subwoofer shakes your ceiling at night. In short, stimuli can be attention-

getting in a productive or distracting way. As communicators, we can use this knowledge to our benefit by

minimizing distractions when we have something important to say. It’s probably better to have a serious

conversation with a significant other in a quiet place rather than a crowded food court. As we will learn

later, altering the rate, volume, and pitch of your voice, known as vocal variety, can help keep your

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audience engaged, as can gestures and movement. Conversely, nonverbal adaptors, or nervous

movements we do to relieve anxiety like pacing or twirling our hair, can be distracting. Aside from

minimizing distractions and delivering our messages enthusiastically, the content of our communication

also affects salience.

Needs and Interests

We tend to pay attention to information that we perceive to meet our needs or interests in some way. This

type of selective attention can help us meet instrumental needs and get things done. When you need to

speak with a financial aid officer about your scholarships and loans, you sit in the waiting room and listen

for your name to be called. Paying close attention to whose name is called means you can be ready to start

your meeting and hopefully get your business handled. When we don’t think certain messages meet our

needs, stimuli that would normally get our attention may be completely lost. Imagine you are in the

grocery store and you hear someone say your name. You turn around, only to hear that person say,

“Finally! I said your name three times. I thought you forgot who I was!” A few seconds before, when you

were focused on figuring out which kind of orange juice to get, you were attending to the various pulp

options to the point that you tuned other stimuli out, even something as familiar as the sound of someone

calling your name. Again, as communicators, especially in persuasive contexts, we can use this to our

advantage by making it clear how our message or proposition meets the needs of our audience members.

Whether a sign helps us find the nearest gas station, the sound of a ringtone helps us find our missing cell

phone, or a speaker tells us how avoiding processed foods will improve our health, we select and attend to

information that meets our needs. We also find salient information that interests us. Of course, many times, stimuli that meet our needs are

also interesting, but it’s worth discussing these two items separately because sometimes we find things

interesting that don’t necessarily meet our needs. I’m sure we’ve all gotten sucked into a television show,

video game, or random project and paid attention to that at the expense of something that actually meets

our needs like cleaning or spending time with a significant other. Paying attention to things that interest

us but don’t meet specific needs seems like the basic formula for procrastination that we are all familiar

with.

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In many cases we know what interests us and we automatically gravitate toward stimuli that match up

with that. For example, as you filter through radio stations, you likely already have an idea of what kind of

music interests you and will stop on a station playing something in that genre while skipping right past

stations playing something you aren’t interested in. Because of this tendency, we often have to end up

being forced into or accidentally experiencing something new in order to create or discover new interests.

For example, you may not realize you are interested in Asian history until you are required to take such a

course and have an engaging professor who sparks that interest in you. Or you may accidentally stumble

on a new area of interest when you take a class you wouldn’t otherwise because it fits into your schedule.

As communicators, you can take advantage of this perceptual tendency by adapting your topic and

content to the interests of your audience. Expectations

The relationship between salience and expectations is a little more complex. Basically, we can find

expected things salient and find things that are unexpected salient. While this may sound confusing, a

couple examples should illustrate this point. If you are expecting a package to be delivered, you might pick

up on the slightest noise of a truck engine or someone’s footsteps approaching your front door. Since we

expect something to happen, we may be extra tuned in to clues that it is coming. In terms of the

unexpected, if you have a shy and soft-spoken friend who you overhear raising the volume and pitch of his

voice while talking to another friend, you may pick up on that and assume that something out of the

ordinary is going on. For something unexpected to become salient, it has to reach a certain threshold of

difference. If you walked into your regular class and there were one or two more students there than

normal, you may not even notice. If you walked into your class and there was someone dressed up as a

wizard, you would probably notice. So, if we expect to experience something out of the routine, like a

package delivery, we will find stimuli related to that expectation salient. If we experience something that

we weren’t expecting and that is significantly different from our routine experiences, then we will likely

find it salient. We can also apply this concept to our communication. I always encourage my students to

include supporting material in their speeches that defies our expectations. You can help keep your

audience engaged by employing good research skills to find such information.

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There is a middle area where slight deviations from routine experiences may go unnoticed because we

aren’t expecting them. To go back to the earlier example, if you aren’t expecting a package, and you

regularly hear vehicle engines and sidewalk foot traffic outside your house, those pretty routine sounds

wouldn’t be as likely to catch your attention, even if it were slightly more or less traffic than expected. This

is because our expectations are often based on previous experience and patterns we have observed and

internalized, which allows our brains to go on “autopilot” sometimes and fill in things that are missing or

overlook extra things. Look at the following sentence and read it aloud: Perception is based on patterns,

meaning we often reach a conclusion without considering each individual element. This example

illustrates a test of our expectation and an annoyance to every college student. We have all had the

experience of getting a paper back with typos and spelling errors circled. This can be frustrating,

especially if we actually took the time to proofread. When we first learned to read and write, we learned

letter by letter. A teacher or parent would show us a card with A-P-P-L-E written on it, and we would

sound it out. Over time, we learned the patterns of letters and sounds and could see combinations of

letters and pronounce the word quickly. Since we know what to expect when we see a certain pattern of

letters, and know what comes next in a sentence since we wrote the paper, we don’t take the time to look

at each letter as we proofread. This can lead us to overlook common typos and spelling errors, even if we

proofread something multiple times. As a side note, I’ll share two tips to help you avoid proofreading

errors: First, have a friend proofread your paper. Since they didn’t write it, they have fewer expectations

regarding the content. Second, read your papers backward. Since patterns of speech aren’t the same in

reverse you have to stop and focus on each word. Now that we know how we select stimuli, let’s turn our

attention to how we organize the information we receive.

Organizing Information

Organizing is the second part of the perception process, in which we sort and categorize information that

we perceive based on innate and learned cognitive patterns. Three ways we sort things into patterns are by

using proximity, similarity, and difference. Stanley Coren, “Principles of Perceptual Organization and

Spatial Distortion: The Gestalt Illusions,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and

Performance 6, no. 3 (1980): 404–12. In terms of proximity, we tend to think that things that are close

together go together. For example, have you ever been waiting to be helped in a business and the clerk

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assumes that you and the person standing beside you are together? The slightly awkward moment usually

ends when you and the other person in line look at each other, then back at the clerk, and one of you

explains that you are not together. Even though you may have never met that other person in your life, the

clerk used a basic perceptual organizing cue to group you together because you were standing in proximity

to one another.

We also group things together based on similarity. We tend to think similar-looking or similar-acting

things belong together. I have two friends that I occasionally go out with, and we are all three males,

around the same age, of the same race, with short hair and glasses. Aside from that, we don’t really look

alike, but on more than one occasion a server at a restaurant has assumed that we’re brothers. Despite the

fact that many of our other features are different, the salient features are organized based on similarity

and the three of us are suddenly related.

We also organize information that we take in based on difference. In this case, we assume that the item

that looks or acts different from the rest doesn’t belong with the group. Perceptual errors involving people

and assumptions of difference can be especially awkward, if not offensive. My friend’s mother, who is

Vietnamese American, was attending a conference at which another attendee assumed she was a hotel

worker and asked her to throw something away for her. In this case, my friend’s mother was a person of

color at a convention with mostly white attendees, so an impression was formed based on the other

person’s perception of this difference.

These strategies for organizing information are so common that they are built into how we teach our

children basic skills and how we function in our daily lives. I’m sure we all had to look at pictures in grade

school and determine which things went together and which thing didn’t belong. If you think of the literal

act of organizing something, like your desk at home or work, we follow these same strategies. If you have a

bunch of papers and mail on the top of your desk, you will likely sort papers into separate piles for

separate classes or put bills in a separate place than personal mail. You may have one drawer for pens,

pencils, and other supplies and another drawer for files. In this case you are grouping items based on

similarities and differences. You may also group things based on proximity, for example, by putting

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financial items like your checkbook, a calculator, and your pay stubs in one area so you can update your

budget efficiently. In summary, we simplify information and look for patterns to help us more efficiently

communicate and get through life.

Simplification and categorizing based on patterns isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, without this

capability we would likely not have the ability to speak, read, or engage in other complex

cognitive/behavioral functions. Our brain innately categorizes and files information and experiences away

for later retrieval, and different parts of the brain are responsible for different sensory experiences. In

short, it is natural for things to group together in some ways. There are differences among people, and

looking for patterns helps us in many practical ways. However, the judgments we place on various

patterns and categories are not natural; they are learned and culturally and contextually relative. Our

perceptual patterns do become unproductive and even unethical when the judgments we associate with

certain patterns are based on stereotypical or prejudicial thinking.

We also organize interactions and interpersonal experiences based on our firsthand experiences. When

two people experience the same encounter differently, misunderstandings and conflict may

result. Punctuation refers to the structuring of information into a timeline to determine the cause

(stimulus) and effect (response) of our communication interactions. Allan L. Sillars, “Attributions and

Communication in Roommate Conflicts,” Communication Monographs 47, no. 3 (1980): 180–

200.Applying this concept to interpersonal conflict can help us see how the perception process extends

beyond the individual to the interpersonal level. This concept also helps illustrate how organization and

interpretation can happen together and how interpretation can influence how we organize information

and vice versa.

Where does a conflict begin and end? The answer to this question depends on how the people involved in

the conflict punctuate, or structure, their conflict experience. Punctuation differences can often escalate

conflict, which can lead to a variety of relationship problems. Paul Watzlawick, Janet Beavin Bavelas, and

Don D. Jackson, Pragmatics of Human Communication: A Study of Interactional Patterns, Pathologies,

and Paradoxes (New York, NY: W. W. Norton, 1967), 56. For example, Linda and Joe are on a project

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team at work and have a deadline approaching. Linda has been working on the project over the weekend

in anticipation of her meeting with Joe first thing Monday morning. She has had some questions along the

way and has e-mailed Joe for clarification and input, but he hasn’t responded. On Monday morning,

Linda walks into the meeting room, sees Joe, and says, “I’ve been working on this project all weekend and

needed your help. I e-mailed you three times! What were you doing?” Joe responds, “I had no idea you e-

mailed me. I was gone all weekend on a camping trip.” In this instance, the conflict started for Linda two

days ago and has just started for Joe. So, for the two of them to most effectively manage this conflict, they

need to communicate so that their punctuation, or where the conflict started for each one, is clear and

matches up. In this example, Linda made an impression about Joe’s level of commitment to the project

based on an interpretation she made after selecting and organizing incoming information. Being aware of

punctuation is an important part of perception checking, which we will discuss later. Let’s now take a

closer look at how interpretation plays into the perception process. Interpreting Information

Although selecting and organizing incoming stimuli happens very quickly, and sometimes without much

conscious thought, interpretation can be a much more deliberate and conscious step in the perception

process. Interpretation is the third part of the perception process, in which we assign meaning to our

experiences using mental structures known as schemata. Schemata are like databases of stored, related

information that we use to interpret new experiences. We all have fairly complicated schemata that have

developed over time as small units of information combine to make more meaningful complexes of

information.

We have an overall schema about education and how to interpret experiences with teachers and

classmates. This schema started developing before we even went to preschool based on things that

parents, peers, and the media told us about school. For example, you learned that certain symbols and

objects like an apple, a ruler, a calculator, and a notebook are associated with being a student or teacher.

You learned new concepts like grades and recess, and you engaged in new practices like doing homework,

studying, and taking tests. You also formed new relationships with teachers, administrators, and

classmates. As you progressed through your education, your schema adapted to the changing

environment. How smooth or troubling schema reevaluation and revision is varies from situation to

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situation and person to person. For example, some students adapt their schema relatively easily as they

move from elementary, to middle, to high school, and on to college and are faced with new expectations

for behavior and academic engagement. Other students don’t adapt as easily, and holding onto their old

schema creates problems as they try to interpret new information through old, incompatible schema.

We’ve all been in a similar situation at some point in our lives, so we know that revising our schemata can

be stressful and that such revision takes effort and usually involves some mistakes, disappointments, and

frustrations. But being able to adapt our schemata is a sign of cognitive complexity, which is an important

part of communication competence. So, even though the process may be challenging, it can also be a time

for learning and growth.

It’s important to be aware of schemata because our interpretations affect our behavior. For example, if

you are doing a group project for class and you perceive a group member to be shy based on your schema

of how shy people communicate, you may avoid giving him presentation responsibilities in your group

project because you do not think shy people make good public speakers. Schemata also guide our

interactions, providing a script for our behaviors. We know, in general, how to act and communicate in a

waiting room, in a classroom, on a first date, and on a game show. Even a person who has never been on a

game show can develop a schema for how to act in that environment by watching The Price Is Right, for

example. People go to great lengths to make shirts with clever sayings or act enthusiastically in hopes of

being picked to be a part of the studio audience and hopefully become a contestant on the show.

As we have seen, schemata are used to interpret others’ behavior and form impressions about who they

are as a person. To help this process along, we often solicit information from people to help us place them

into a preexisting schema. In the United States and many other Western cultures, people’s identities are

often closely tied to what they do for a living. When we introduce others, or ourselves, occupation is

usually one of the first things we mention. Think about how your communication with someone might

differ if he or she were introduced to you as an artist versus a doctor. We make similar interpretations

based on where people are from, their age, their race, and other social and cultural factors. We will learn

more about how culture, gender, and other factors influence our perceptions as we continue through the

chapter. In summary, we have schemata about individuals, groups, places, and things, and these schemata

filter our perceptions before, during, and after interactions. As schemata are retrieved from memory, they

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are executed, like computer programs or apps on your smartphone, to help us interpret the world around

us. Just like computer programs and apps must be regularly updated to improve their functioning,

competent communicators update and adapt their schemata as they have new experiences.

Key Takeaways • Perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information. This process affects

our communication because we respond to stimuli differently, whether they are objects or persons,

based on how we perceive them.

• Given the massive amounts of stimuli taken in by our senses, we only select a portion of the

incoming information to organize and interpret. We select information based on salience. We tend to

find salient things that are visually or aurally stimulating and things that meet our needs and

interests. Expectations also influence what information we select.

• We organize information that we select into patterns based on proximity, similarity, and difference.

• We interpret information using schemata, which allow us to assign meaning to information based on

accumulated knowledge and previous experience.