1. Perception Processes
O K A S H A O S A M A P A R A C H A
U M A I R A H M E D
S A I F N A S I R
M U N E E B K H A N
2. “ WE DON’T
SEE THINGS
AS THEY
ARE, WE SEE
THINGS AS
WE ARE.”
3. Perception
• STEPHEN ROBBINS • “ Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret
the sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.”
• In general, it can be defined as “ a process that involves seeing, receiving, selecting,
organizing, interpreting and giving meaning to the environment”.
• Perception leads people to react differently to the same situation.
7. The Processof Receiving Stimuli
– Perceptual information is gathered from:
• Sight.
• Hearing.
• Touch.
• Taste.
• Smell.
8. Perceptual Selectivity
Numerous stimuli are constantly confronting us:
Noise of papers, people talking, moving cars, phone etc.
With all these stimulation on people, how and why do hey select only a few stimuli at a given
time?
The answer can be found in the principles of perceptual selectivity
11. Internal Factors
• Personality
• Personality traits influence how a person selects perceptions.
• For instance, conscientious people tend to select details and external stimuli to a greater
degree.
• Motivation
• People will select perceptions according to what they need in the moment. They will favor
selections that they think will help them with their current needs and be more likely to ignore
what is irrelevant to their needs.
12. Internal Factors cont.
• Experience
• The patterns of occurrences or associations one has learned in the past affect current
perceptions.
• The person will select perceptions in a way that fits with what they found in the past.
13. External Factors
Intensity
The more intense the external stimulus, the more likely it is to be perceived.
e.g. A loud noise, strong smell, bright light.
Size
The larger the object, the more likely it is to be perceived.
e.g., full page advertisement.
14. External Factors cont.
Contrast
The external stimulus which stands out against a background or that are not what people expect
will receive more attention.
E.g., white lettering against a red background on safety sign.
Repetition
A repeated external stimulus is more attention getting than one.
E.g., A worker will hear better when direction for a task is repeated more than once. Repeated
advertising is more effective.
15. External Factors cont.
Motion
People will pay more attention to moving objects in their field of vision than those that are
stationary.
E.g., moving advertisements on streets.
Novelty and familiarity
A novel or familiar external stimulus can serve as an attention getter.
E.g., new objects or events in a familiar setting will draw the attention of the perceiver
16. Perceptual Organization
• The aspect of forming bits of information into meaningful wholes is called perceptual
organization.
• It is the process by which we group outside stimuli into recognizable and identifiable patterns
and whole objects.
• Certain factors are important contributors on assembling, organizing and categorizing
information in the human brain.
17. Figure-Ground Illustration
Field Ground Differentiation
• The tendency to distinguish and focus on a stimulus that is classified as figure as opposed to background.
The perceived object stand out as a separable from their general background.
When reading a book( printed in black and white) for example, the reader perceived patches of irregularly
black and white shapes, yet he does not perceive it that way, the reader perceives the black shares -letters,
words and sentences – printed against the white background.
The reader perceptually organizes incoming stimulus into recognizable figures – words – against a ground –
white
18.
19. Perceptual Grouping
• Our tendency to group several individual stimuli into a meaningful and recognizable pattern.
• People tend to group stimuli together using any of the four sub principles:
– Closure
– Continuity
– Proximity
– Similarity
20. Closure
• Objects Grouped together are seen as a whole.
• We tend to ignore gaps and complete contour
lines.
• In the image there are no triangles or circles, but
our mind fill in the missing information to create
familiar shapes and images.
21. Continuity
• Lines are seen as following the smoothest path.
• In the image, the top branch is seen as continuing
the first segment of the line. This allows us to see
things as flowing smoothly without breaking lines
up into multiple parts.
22. Proximity
• Objects near each other tend to be grouped together.
• E.g., If workers on a particular factory floor produce low output,
or report grievance, then the management might see all workers
in that group as lazy or troubleshooters , yet some are loyal in
the group.
• The circles on the left appear to be grouped in vertical columns,
while those on the right appear to be grouped in horizontal rows.
23. Similarity
• The greater the similarity of the stimulus, the greater
the tendency to perceive them as a common group.
• For example: if a certain group of employees wear
overalls, then they are perceived to be one group.
• In the image most people will see vertical columns of
circles and squares.
24. Social Perception
• In order to function effectively in a complex human society, we need to perceive the behavior, current moods
and traits of the persons around us. This is known as social perception.
• It is concerned with how one individual perceives other individuals.
• We try to understand other person’s current feelings, moods and emotions—how they are feeling right now,
often provided by nonverbal cues involving facial expressions, eye contact, body posture and movements.
• We attempt to understand the more lasting causes behind others’ behavior—the reasons why they have acted
in certain ways—motives, intentions and traits.
25. Social Perception cont.
• Social perception will be influenced by whether we look at it:
– from the perceivers perspective
– from the person who is being perceived
– Or from the perspective of the particular situation
26.
27. Characteristicsof the Person Perceived
• The way in which we are evaluated in social situations is greatly influenced by our own unique
sets of personal characteristics.
• Four categories of personal characteristics can be identified:
• (1) physical appearance
• (2) verbal communication
• (3) nonverbal communication
• (4) ascribed attributes.
28. Characteristicsof the Situation
• The second major influence on how we perceive others is the situation in which the perceptual
process occurs.
• Two situational influences can be identified:
• (1) the organization and the employee’s place in it
• (2) the location of the event.
29. Characteristicsof the Perceiver
• The third major influence on social perception is the personality and viewpoint of the perceiver.
• Several characteristics unique to our personalities can affect how we see others. These
include:
• (1) self-concept
• (2) cognitive structure
• (3) response salience
• (4) previous experience with the individual
30. Attribution Theory
• The cognitive process by which people interpret the reasons or causes for their behavior is
described by attribution theory.
• When individuals observe behavior, they attempt to determine whether it is internally or externally
caused.
• Attribution theory is based largely on the work of Fritz Heider.
• Heider argues that behavior is determined by a combination of internal forces (e.g., abilities or
effort) and external forces (e.g., task difficulty or luck).
31. Types of attributes
• Dispositional attribution -Attributes a person's behavior to internal factors such as
personality traits , motivation, ability, fatigue, effort.
• Situational attribution -Attributes a person's behavior to external factors such as equipment,
rules, social influence etc.
• People will behave differently if they perceive internal attributes than they will if they perceive
external attributes
32. Kelley’s Theoryof Causal Attribution
• Building upon the work of Heider, Harold Kelley attempted to identify the major antecedents of
internal and external attributions.
• He examined how people perceive whether the behavior of another person results from
internal or external causes.
• Kelley’s conclusion is that people focus on three factors when making causal attributions.
1. Consensus
2. Consistency
3. Distinctiveness
33. Kelley’s Theorycont.
CONSENSUS :. The extent to which you believe that the person being observed is behaving in a
manner that is consistent with the behavior of his or her peers. High consensus exists when the
person’s actions reflect or are like the actions of the group; low consensus exists when the
person’s actions do not.
CONSISTENCY : The extent to which you believe that the person being observed behaves
consistently—in a similar fashion—when confronted on other occasions with the same or similar
situations. High consistency exists when the person repeatedly acts in the same way when faced
with similar stimuli.
DISTINCTIVENESS : The extent to which you believe that the person being observed would behave
consistently when faced with different situations. Low distinctiveness exists when the person acts
in a similar manner in response to different stimuli; high distinctiveness exists when the person
varies his or her response to different situations.
34. observation Interpretation Attribution of cause
Individual
behavior
Distinctiveness
Consensus
Consistency
H
H
H
L
L
L
External
External
External
Internal
Internal
Internal
H –high L- Low
35. Attributional Biases
• Fundamental attribution error: This is the tendency to overemphasize personal causes
underemphasize situational causes. Hence, when a major problem occurs within a certain
department, we tend to blame people rather than events or situations.
• Self-serving bias: This is a tendency to attribute success on an event or project to their own
actions while attributing failure to others. Hence, we often hear sales representatives saying,
“I made the sale,” but “They stole the sale from me” rather than “I lost it.”
• The Actor-Observer Effect: The tendency to attribute our own behavior to situational factors, but
that others to dispositional (internal) causes.
36. Perceptual Biases
• Perceptual biases are Systematic errors in
perceiving others.
• It means you are biased against or for something
based on your sensory inputs (sight, touch, smell,
taste, or hearing).
• Understanding how perception can be distorted is
particularly relevant for managers because they
make many decisions, and deal with many people
making assessments and judgments, daily. Bias
arises from various processes that are sometimes
difficult to distinguish.
37. Types of Perceptual biases
1. Stereo Typing
2. Selective Perception
3. Halo (Horn) Effect
4. Recency Effect
5. Primary Effect
6. Similar To Me Effect
38. Types cont.
• Stereotyping : A stereotype is a widely held
generalization about a group of people. Stereotyping is a
process in which attributes are assigned to people solely
based on their class or category.
• Women are always good homemakers and can do well in
work life balance.
• Selective Perception: Selective perception is the
process by which we systematically screen out
information we don’t wish to hear, focusing instead on
more salient information.
• Production managers focus on production problems to
the exclusion of other problems.
39. Types cont.
• Halo (Horn) Effect: Drawing general impression of
individual based on a single characteristic.
• During performance appraisal, a rater makes an error in
judging persons total personality or performance based on
a single positive/negative trait like intelligence or
appearance.
• Similar-to-me Effect: The tendency for people to perceive in
positive light others who are believed to be like themselves in
any or several different ways. To all honest people, everybody is
honest.
40. Types cont.
• Primary Effect: Tendency to form a judgement/opinion
quickly based on the first information we received.
(Subsequently, we may receive other information),but
based our judgement on the first information.
• Recency Effect: When The Most RECENT Information
Influence Our Judgement, Even Though We Have A
Whole Of Other Information On The Person.
41. Overcoming Perceptual Biases
• For you to be able to challenge your bias, you need to be aware of them. This is often a process of
reversed engineering, where you look at a statement you hold to be “true” and work your way
backwards through the sometimes-vast root work of assumptions, interpretations and cognitive
bias.
• Always FACT-CHECK your Assumptions
• When we THINK we are basing our assumptions and interpretation on “fact”, when we are basing
them on assumptions? That is where we get ourselves entangled and confused. Trusting faulty
logic is how bad choices are made, and misunderstanding between people arise
42. Overcoming
Perceptual
Biases
Overcoming cont.
1. Empathize with Others
2. Postpone Impression Formation
3. Do not overlook the external cases of others’ behavior
4. Identify your Stereotypes
Postpone
Impression
Formation
Empathize
With Others
Identify
Stereotypes
43. Impression Management
• The process of portraying yourself to others in a manner that creates a desired impression.
• Individual attempts to control or guide others impression by changing or fixing his or her
setting, appearance and manners.
• Impression management is the process in which one person influence others.
45. IM Techniques
cont.
Opinion conformity: Agreeing to someone else’s opinion to
gain his or her approval.
• Example: a manager tell his boss you are right on your
reorganization plan for the regional office.
Excuses: Explanation of a predicament (difficult or embracing
situation) creating event aimed at minimize the apparent
severity to the predicament.
• Example: sales manager to boss “we failed to get the ad in
paper on time, but no one responds on those ads anyway.
46. IM Techniques
cont.
Apologies: Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event
and simultaneously seeking to get a pardon for the section.
• Example: employee to boss “I am sorry I made a mistake on
the report please forgive me”
Self-promotion: Highlighting once best qualities downplaying
one’s deficits and calling attention to one’s achievements.
• Example: a salesperson tells his boss; Ali worked
unsuccessfully for three years to try to get that account I
sewed it up in six weeks. I am the best.
47. IM Techniquescont.
Flattery: Complementing others about their behaviors or achievements in an efforts to make
oneself appear perceptive and likeable.
• Example: new sales trainee to peers “you handled that client complain so tactfully, I could not
have handled that as well as you did.
Association: Enhancing or protecting one’s image by managing information about people and
things with which one is associated.
• Example: a job applicant says to an interviewer, what a coincident, your boss and I were
roommates in college
