Perception is the process by which we become aware of objects, events, and people around us through our senses. Our perceptions are influenced by physical, environmental, internal, and learned elements. We actively select certain stimuli to focus on based on various factors and then organize this information using cognitive schemas like prototypes, personal constructs, stereotypes, and scripts. Finally, we interpret the meaning of what we perceive by making attributions about its locus, stability, specificity, and our responsibility. However, our perceptions do not necessarily reflect an ultimate reality and are subject to errors and biases.

1. Chapter 3
Perception and Communication

2. Perception in Interpersonal
Communication
Perception is the process by which we become
aware of objects, events, and people around
us.
It is an active process.

3. If you were blind,
how would you describe an Elephant?

4. Six descriptions of an Elephant!

5. It is all in your head.
“Change the way you look at things and the things
you look at change.”
― Wayne W. Dyer

6. Perception
Some would argue that there IS no ultimate reality, only the
illusion of our perceptions.
Our perceptions are influenced by:
1)physical elements - what information your eye or ear can
actually take in. The sensory process (next slide.)
2)2) environmental elements - what information or noise is
outside you to receive -- its context.
3) Internal elements – gut feelings, empathy,
introvert/extrovert, physiological or physical ailments,
4) learned elements - culture, personality, habit, what filters
we use to select what we take in and how we react to it.

7. Sensation
The neurological process by which we become aware of our environment. Of the
human senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, including pain, temperature, and
pressure. (Gordon, 1971).
•For Humans, sensation is a neurological process. You are not directly aware of what is in
the physical world but, rather, of your own internal sensations.
•When you report “seeing” a tree, what you are aware of is actually an electrochemical
event.
The world appears quite different to other forms of life with different sensory ranges:
•A bat, for example, senses the world through ultrasound.
•A snake does so through infrared light.
•Dogs - The visual acuity of our canine companions is about 20-40% as good as ours. But
the average dog's nose is 10,000 times more sensitive to odors than the human nose.
•Cats – Have better night vision, but can see the same colors as humans, but less vibrant.

8. Connect the Dots with
three straight lines

9. Organizing information
Accessing the Rectangle.

11. It moves!

12. How Do Optical Illusions Work?
• This Optical Illusion Test is a great example of how
sometimes what we see is different then what is real.
• This is because what we see is processed on different
levels, both consciously and subconsciously and is also
not always just from what we see through our eyes but
also from what our mind projects to our eyes and we
subsequently consciously become aware of.

13. Is the man facing you? Or looking
forward?

14. Floating boat?

15. The Process of Human Perception
What is Perception?
The active process of creating
meaning by:
1)Selection
1)Organization
1)Interpretation

16. Perceiving
1) Selection Process
The world deluges us with sensory
information every second.
Our mind produces interpretations and
models and perceptions – at a mile a
minute.
To survive, we have to select what
information we attend to and what we
remember.

17. 1) Selection Process
 Notice what is going on around you. (Is the
room warm or cold?
Messy or clean? Light
or dark? Can you smell anything?)
 Are you sleepy, hungry
comfortable?
 We narrow our attention to what we define
as important in that moment.
 Flight or fight (Survival main reason.)

18. 1) Selection Process
We select to attend or ignore certain stimuli
based on a number of factors:
The qualities of the phenomena
- We notice things that stand out (larger, brighter, louder) or different.
Self-indication
- We deliberately influence what we notice by indicating things to
ourselves that we have seen before (Many say this is unconscious or
based on education/interest, etc.)
Our motives and needs affect what we see/not see
- People perceive objects they desire/interested in.
Culture
- “Different behavior” standout (Attitudes, mannerisms, clothing, tattoos,
body piercings, beliefs, habits.)

19. Culture and Perception
Assertiveness and competiveness are encouraged
and considered good in the western culture.
•To be competitive and question people is normal.
•In Asian cultures to compete and call people out is
noticed and judged negatively.

20. Invisible Gorilla Test
Study by Simons and Chabris (1999)
•Participants viewed videotape of a basketball game.
•They were told to count the number of passes one team made.
•In the video, a woman dressed as a gorilla walks into the game, faces the
camera, beats her chest and then leaves.
•Only 40% of viewers saw the Gorilla.

21. What the invisible gorilla study shows
is that…
•if we are paying very close attention to
one thing, we often fail to notice other
things in our field of vision—even very
obvious things.
•It’s entertaining to know that our
senses can play tricks on us.
•But what if this perceptual quirk has
serious implications—even life-
threatening implications?

22. Selection process –
How many legs does the Elephant have?

23. 3D Perception
It is impossible to tell.
you look at this flat 2D picture, your brain automatically tries to build a 3D shape in
your mind - and it can’t.
Impossible shapes show how our brains automatically try to make us see in 3D.
After all, the image on your retina is flat, yet everything you see has depth.

24. Perception in Communication

25. ‘The Stroop effect’ and was discovered in 1935 by John
Ridley Stroop.
• When the name and the ink color are different, most
people slow down.
• When you try to say the ink color, you cannot avoid reading
the word.
• If the two bits of information conflict, your brain struggles to
work out what the correct answer is, and it takes longer.
The test has even been used on Everest expeditions to see
how altitudes are affecting different people.

26. What color is red?
Those with normal vision may physically see
"red" similarly, but will interpret it culturally:
•red means "stop" or "anger" or "excitement"
or "in debt" (US)
•red meaning "good fortune" or “healthy”
(China)
•red meaning your school's colors

27. What if are Color blind?

28. 2) Step - Organization
Constructivism – Once we have selected what to notice, we
need to make sense of it. We apply a cognitive structure
called schemata/Schema. All interact with one another.

29. 2nd
Step - Organization
As we sense, we organize and interpret
experience by applying the four cognitive
schemata.
• Which prototype (what good friend, person in trouble, student, teacher
do they closely resemble.)
• Then we apply the personal constructs to define more detail (are they
upset or calm, open to advice or closed to it.)
• Based on the construct of others, we apply stereotypes (how has this
person reacted in the past? How this situation similar to others?) that
predict what they will do.
• We then apply the script (how the interaction should proceed, including
how we should act.)

30. What is your prototype of a
Professor?

31. Apply the
Schemata –
Professor
1) Prototype - Exemplified by person or relationships that is “ideal.” Q: Describe your ideal
professor.
2) Applying Personal construct (Additional detailed assessments
of particular qualities) Q: What words or characteristic's would you use to describe them?
3) Stereotype (Personal construct applied will predict what
a person or it will do.) Q: How do they act, dress, talk?
4) Script (Most daily activities' are governed by
our script) Q: How do you act around them?
What happens if your professor does not fit your Schemata?

32. 3rd
Step - Interpretation
It is not clear yet!
•Step 1 (We select the
perceived event or phenomena)
•Step 2 (We use the cognitive
•schemata – Prototype, personal construct
measurement, stereotype, and, script)
•Step 3 (We then assign meaning to what we
have noticed and organized.) Remember: There is
no ‘real’ meaning to what we see.

33. Is this a person with glasses or a
word?
Step 1 (We select the
perceived event or
phenomena)
Step 2 (Prototype,
personal construct
measurement, stereotype,
and, script)
Step 3 (We then assign
meaning to what we have
noticed and organized.)

34. 3) Interpretation
Interpretation is an explanation of why something
happened or why someone acts a certain way.
Four Attributions
 Locus
 Stability
 Specificity
 Responsibility

35. 3) Interpretation
1st
dimension – Locus attribution
•A person’s actions to internal factors
- “ She has no patience with people who are late .”
•A person’s action to external factors
- “The traffic jam frustrated him.”

36. 3) Interpretation
2nd
dimension – Stability attribution(concerns
Time)
•This explains actions as result of stable
factors that won’t change over time.
- “He is not always aware, since he has lost his
hearing.”
•Or, explains unstable factors that may or
will different at another time.
- “She acted that way, because she had just been
fired.”

37. 3rd
dimension – Specificity attribution– Are there global
implications?
Stable (Time) and specific:
“She yelled at Fred (specific) because she is
short-tempered (stable).”
Stable (Time) and global:
“She yells at everyone (global) because she is
short-tempered (stable.)
Unstable (Time) and specific:
“She yelled at Fred (specific) because she was in
a hurry (unstable.)
Unstable (Time) and global
“She yells at everyone (global) when she is in a
hurry (unstable.)

38. 3) Interpretation
4th
dimension – Responsibility
How we account for other’s actions affects our
feelings about them and our relationship.
We hold people accountable for their behavior if:
-If they have control (less understanding.)
-If the don’t have control (more understanding)
-If they are talking medicine or have a medical or
health issue (external.)
-If they have a (unstable) situation.

39. Attributions
• Attribution is the process of identifying a set of user actions (“events”)
that contribute in some manner to a desired outcome, and then
assigning a value to each of these events.
• Our attributions influence the meanings we attach to to others and their
communication.
Book example: Why does my supervisor shout orders in a rude manner?
• Does she have an authoritarian personality?
• Is she insecure because she is in a new role as a supervisor?
• Is she reacting to medicine?
(Each of the three attributions will lead us to attach a distinct meaning to
the shouting.)

40. Attributions errors
1) Self-serving bias – we tend to
construct attributions that serve our
self interest.
- We are inclined to make internal, stable,
and global attributions for our positive
actions and our successes.
- We are likely to claim good results come
about because of personal control we
exerted.

41. Example from the class book
Chico:
“When I do badly on a test or paper, I usually
say either the professor was unfair or I had
too much to do that we and couldn’t study like
I wanted to. But when my friends do badly on
a test, I tend to think they’re not good in that
subject or they aren’t disciplined or whatever.”

42. Attributions errors
2) Don’t blame me!
The self-serving bias works in
another way.
•We tend to avoid taking
responsibility for negative
actions and failures.
•By attributing them to external,
unstable, and specific factors that
are beyond our control.

43. Attributions errors
3) Fundamental attribution error (dimension of
the locus (internal/external factors.)
-We tend to overestimate the internal causes.
-And underestimate the external causes.
-We also will underestimate the internal
causes of our own misdeeds and failures and
overestimate the external causes/

44. 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
• Guard against the fundamental attribution
error
• Monitor labels

45. Guidelines for Improving Perception
And Communication
Strive for accuracy and clarity
 Be aware of levels of abstraction

46. The Ladder of
Abstraction – Monitor Labels
How do we describe
Sade the Cat?

47. Mid-Term
• Please read chapters 1 to 4.
• Slides are posted for Chapters 1 and 2.
• Chapters 3 and 4 are posted at:
• Chapter 4/Mid-Term review April 8 (Study
guide and essay questions will be passed
out.)
• Mid-Term April 13 (Open book, notes. No
computers, phones, etc. Need Scantron for
50 questions.)