2. Pearson, J., Nelson, P., Titsworth, S., & Harter, L. (2013). Human
Communication – Ch. 2
Perception:
• the process of using senses to acquire information about the
surrounding environment or situation.
• Perception is subjective, active and creative.
• Differences in perception are the result of past experiences and roles,
psychological factors, present feelings and circumstances. (Sex is also
a psychological factor.)
• Since our perception is unique, communication between and among
people is complicated
3. Perception
• Selective perception: the tendency that you want to see, hear, and
believe what you want to see, hear, believe and not what you dislike.
• Selective retention: the tendency to remember better the things that
reinforce your beliefs than those that oppose them.
• Perceptual constancy: your past experiences lead you to see the
world in a way that is difficult to change.
• We can overcome perceptional differences that are based on cultural
differences by rejecting stereotypes and prejudice.
4. The Gestalt Principles
• Gestalt is a psychology term which means "unified whole".
• It refers to theories of visual perception developed by German
psychologists in the 1920s.
• These theories attempt to describe how people tend to organize
visual elements into groups or unified wholes when certain principles
are applied.
• These principles are: similarity, continuation, closure, proximity, and
figure and ground.
5. similarity
• Similarity occurs when objects look similar to one another. People
often perceive them as a group or pattern.
• The example here contains 11 distinct objects but appears as as single
unit because all of the shapes have similarity.
6. anomaly
• When similarity occurs, an object can be emphasized if it is
dissimilar to the others. This is called anomaly.
• The figure on the far right becomes a focal point because it
is dissimilar to the other shapes.
7. Continuation
• Continuation: when the eye is compelled to move through one
object and continue to another object. The smooth flowing crossbar
of the "H" leads the eye directly to the maple leaf.
8. Closure
• Closure occurs when an object is incomplete or a space is
not completely enclosed. If enough of the shape is indicated, people
perceive the whole by filling in the missing information.
9. Proximity
• Proximity occurs when elements are placed close together. We tend
to perceive the first 9 squares as a group, while we perceive the
second as separate shapes.
(Source:http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm)
10. Figure and ground
Figure is the focal point of your
attention.
Ground is the background against
which your focused attention
occurs.
11. More on perception
• Interpretive perception: a blend of internal states and external
stimuli
• Errors in interpretation: stereotyping, prejudice and first impression
12. Important definitions
• Stereotyping: hasty generalization about a group based on a
judgment about an individual from that group
• Prejudice refers to an unfavorable predisposition about an individual
because of his/her membership in a stereotyped group
• First impression: an initial opinion about people upon meeting that
person based on their appearance
• Negative first impression may persist even after receiving contradictory information about the
person.
• Perceptual checking: a process of describing, interpreting, verifying
that help us to understand an other person
13. Symbolic Interactionalism
• Formulated by Blumer (1969): the process of interaction in the
formation of meanings for individuals.
14. Identity management
• Identity management: we control the communication of information
through a performance, in which people try to represent an idealized
version of themselves to reach desired ends. Think of the
photographs your post on the Facebook.
