This document discusses the concept of perception. It defines perception as the process by which individuals organize and interpret sensory impressions to make meaning of their environment. Perception involves receiving stimuli, selecting relevant information, and organizing and interpreting it based on past experiences. Perception differs between individuals as the same situation can be perceived differently. Factors like the attributes of the perceived person, perceiver, and situation all influence the perceptual process. Perception plays an important role in shaping behavior and management functions like communication, performance evaluation, and employee relations.

1. PERCEPTIONS
“ You become what you thinketh”
“ If everyone perceived everything the
same way, things would be a lot
simpler”
-Moorhead & Griffin

3. DEFINITIONS
• STEPHEN ROBBINS
• “ Perception is a process by which
individual’s organise and interpret the
sensory impressions in order to give
meaning to their environment.”
• FRED LUTHANS
• “ Perception is an important mediating
cognitive process through which persons
make interpretations of the stimulus or
situation they are forced with.”

4. DEFINITIONS…
• UDAI PAREEK & OTHERS
• “ Perception can be defined as the
process of receiving, selecting,
organising, checking and reacting to
sensory stimuli or data”.
• In general, it can be defined as “ a
process that involves seeing, receiving,
selecting, organising, interpreting and
giving meaning to the environment”.

5. MEANING
• Perceptions differ from person to person.
• Each individual perceives the same
situation differently.
• Group perceptions can influence one’s
perception.
• Individuals organise and interpret things
based on their past experiences and the
important values they consider important.
• Employees tend to behave and act on
certain things on the basis of their
perception.

6. NATURE OF PERCEPTION
• 1) Perception is the process by which an
individual gives meaning to the
environment.
• 2) It is a cognitive and psychological
process. The manner in which a person
perceives the environment affects his
behaviour. There can be no behaviour
without perception and perception lies at
the base of every human action.
• 3) People’s action, emotions, thoughts and
feelings are triggered by their perceptions
of their surroundings.

7. • 4) Since perception refers to the
acquisition of specific knowledge about
objects or events at any particular moment,
it occurs whenever stimuli activate the
sense organs.
• 5) Though perception has been defined in
a variety of ways, it basically refers to the
manner in which a person experiences the
world.
• 6) Perception is an almost automatic
process and works in much the same way

8. • 7) A stimulus that is not perceived has
no effect on behaviour.
• 8) Perception is a process that operates
constantly between us and reality.
• 9) Since perception is subjective
process, different people may perceive
the same environment differently. So
perception is like beauty, that lies in the
eyes of the beholder.

9. • 10)Perception involves the creation of
gestalts.
• 11)Perception is a unique interpretation
of the situation, not an exact recording of
the situation.
• 12)Perception is more complex and much
broader than sensation.

10. IMPORTANCE OF
PERCEPTION
• Perception plays a very important role in
Perception plays a very important
shaping the personality of an individual.
• Perception is central in interpreting the
world around us.
• Perception affects the outcome of our
behaviour because we act on the basis of
what we see.
• Managers should be able to distinguish
between a perceived world and the
reality.
• An understanding of perception is
important to understand and control the

11. • The importance of perception in
managerial behaviour are :
• i) Attitude formation : Perceiving events
and people is critical in attitude
formation. Perception creates a basis for
our attitudes, opinions, feelings, beliefs
and values.
• ii) Relationship base : the manager’s
relationship with others are based on
perceptions of their basic natures and
motivations. Managers identify the
perceptual structures and implicit
personality of employees before making
work relations.

12. • iii) Effective communication :Any
message must be received and
interpreted before the communication
attempt is complete. Communication
remains ineffective if it does not
accomplish what the source intends.
• iv) Employment interview :Interviewers
make perceptual judgments, draw
impressions and arrive at conclusions
about the applicants. Thus perception is
a major input in their decision.

13. • v) Performance evaluation :An
employee’s performance appraisal is very
much dependent on the perceptual
outlook. The evaluator forms a general
impression of an employee’s work. Thus,
the perception process significantly
influences the appraisal outcome.
• vi) Employee effort : In many
organisations, assessment of an
employee’s effort is a subjective judgment
which is susceptible to perceptual
distortions and bias.

14. • vii) Employees loyalty :When evaluating
an employee’s loyalty, a manager is
involved with person’s perception. This is
an important judgement that managers
make about employees.
• viii) Organisational goals :The
interpretation and accomplishment of
organisational goals again depend on the
philosophies and ideologies of those who
are expected to pursue them.

15. • ix) Workers’ rights : The interpretation of
workers’ rights and responsibilities is
also dependent on the ideological
motives and beliefs of managers.
• x) Employees unions :Perception plays a
vital role in creating a better
understanding of unions by management
and vice-versa.

16. PERCEPTUAL PROCESS
• Perception is an intellectual process.
• Perception is the basic cognitive or
psychological process.
• Perception is subjective process.
• Perception consists of several sub-
processes.

17. PERCEPTUAL PROCESS…
Perceptual Perceptual
Perceptual throughputs
inputs Outputs
Stimuli Actions
Receiving->Selecting->Organising->Interpreting
Simplified process of perception

18. • Perceptual inputs – Objects, Events and
people.
All those things in the setting where
events occur or contribute to the
occurrence of events can be termed as
Perceptual inputs.
• Perceptual Mechanism -involves three
elements viz. selection of stimuli,
organisation of stimuli and interpretation
of stimuli.
• Perceptual outputs –Attitudes, Opinions,
Feelings & Values.

19. BASIC ELEMENTS IN THE
PERCEPTUAL STIMULI
ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI
Objects, events or people OBSERVATION (SENSES)
Taste, Hearing, Touch,
Smell, Sight
PERCEPTUAL SELECTION
External Factors Internal Factors
Size, intensity, Personality
Contrast, Motion, Learning
Repetition, Novelty Motivation
Familiarity Self concept,
PERCEPTUAL ORGANISATION
beliefs etc
Perceptual Grouping, Continuity
Proximity, Closure, Similarity
INTERPRETATION
Perceptual defense, Stereotyping,
Halo effect, Projection, Expectancy RESPONSE
Effects, Internal versus External Convert, Attitudes, Overt,
Causes, Caused for success and Motivations, Feelings etc.
failures

20. FACTORS INFLUENCING
PERCEPTION
• Perception is influenced by a variety of
individuals and situational factors. Any
perceptual event has three components
viz. – a perceiver, the person perceived
and the situational context in which the
perception is occurring. Let’s explore each
of these under following headings :
• 1. Attributes of the person perceived
• 2. Attributes of the perceiver and
• 3. Attributes of the situation.

21. ATTRIBUTES OF THE PERSON
PERCEIVED
• The first major influence on perception is
of the target, that is the person
perceived. In particular, the following
attributes of target can be identified:
• i) Physical appearance
• ii) Verbal and non verbal communication
• iii) Status
• iv) Occupation
• v) Personal characteristics

22. ATTRIBUTES OF THE PERCEIVER
• Several attributes unique to our
personalities can affect how we see
others. These include the
following :
• i) Self concept
• ii) Cognitive structure
• iii) Response salience
• iv) Previous experiences

23. ATTRIBUTES OF THE SITUATION
• Elements in the surrounding
environment also influence
perception process. Some of these
are as follows :
• i) Social context
• ii) Organisational role
• iii) Location of event

24. INTERPERSONAL PERCEPTION
• In order to function effectively in a
complex human society, we need to
perceive the behaviour, current moods
and traits of the persons around us. This
is known as social perception . It is also
called as interpersonal perception . It is
concerned with how one individual
perceives other individuals.
•
• Zalking and Castello has conducted
research for better understanding of
interpersonal perception.

25. INTERPERSONAL PERCEPTION….
• The specific characteristics of the
perceiver, according to them are :
• 1. Knowing oneself makes it easier to see
others accurately.
• 2. One’s own characteristics affect the
characteristics one is likely to see in
others.
• 3. People who accept themselves are
more likely to be able to see favourable
aspects of other people.
• 4. Accuracy in perceiving others is not a
single skill.

26. INTERPERSONAL PERCEPTION….
• Similarly the characteristics of the
person who is being perceived are:
• 1. The status of the person perceived
will greatly influence others’
perception of him.
• 2. The person being perceived is usually
placed into categories to simplify the
viewer’s perceptual activities. Two
common categories are status and
role.
• 3. The visible traits of the person
perceived will greatly influence the
perception of him.

27. • The above characteristics suggest that
the organisational members must realise
that their perceptions of others are
greatly influenced by characteristics of
themselves and characteristics of the
other person.
• Further is necessary to develop
perceptual skills of oneself and others.

28. DEVELOPING PERCEPTUAL
SKILLS
• Following attempts can be made to
enhance perceptual skills.
• 1. Perceiving oneself accurately:
One should increase awareness about
self. For this, he should obtain
information on how others perceive us
from as many sources as possible. By
knowing. Perceiving and understanding
ourselves accurately, we should remove
blind spots about self.

29. DEVELOPING PERCEPTUAL
SKILLS….
• 2. Being empathic :
Empathy means being able to see a
situation as it is experienced by others.
A manager should be sensitive to the
needs of others and perceive situations
from their point of view as well.
• 3. Having positive attitudes :
A manger should see things from a
positive angle, should be aware of
personal biases ad should try to get rid
of any negative feeling he may have of
others. This will help to put things in
proper perspective.

30. DEVELOPING PERCEPTUAL
SKILLS….
• 4. Enhancing self – concept :
Self-concept or a good self image is a
function of how successfully we
accomplish the things we attempt to do.
When people perform roles where they
exhibit their competence and get success,
they develop a basic sense of self esteem
and have positive self regard.
• 5. Communication more openly :
Managers should be able to effectively
communicate to employees so that
misconceptions can be dispelled.

31. DEVELOPING PERCEPTUAL
SKILLS….
• 6. Avoiding common biases in perceptions
: Managers should try to considerably
minimise their perceptual biases. They
should consciously raise their level of
awareness in their interactions with
situations.
• 7. Avoiding attributions :
Mangers should try to avoid making
inappropriate attributions and should
obtain as accurate as assessment of the
situation as possible so that dysfunctional
consequences can be avoided.

32. LEARNING
• “ You cannot teach a man anything.
You can only help him discover it
within himself.”
- Galileo
• “ You cannot give fish to a man
everyday. But if you teach how to
fish, he will have fish everyday.”

33. MEANING / DEFINITIONS
• Learning is the single most important
concept in the study of human behaviour.
• It is involved in almost everything we do.
Every aspect of human behaviour is
responsive to learning experiences –
knowledge, skills, attitudes, language,
value systems and personality traits.
• So we see that everything can be learned
through reasoning, thinking, information
processing ad perception.

34. MEANING / DEFINITIONS…
• “ Learning can be defined as relatively
permanent change in behaviour the
potentiality that results from reinforced
practice or experience. - Steers &
Porter.
• “ Learning is any relatively permanent
change in behaviour that occurs as a
result of experience. - Stephen
Robbins.
• In simple words, learning is a change in
behaviour acquired through experience.

35. MEANING / DEFINITIONS…
• Learning can be defined as a “relatively
permanent change in behaviour or
potential behaviour as a result of direct or
indirect experience”.
• There are two primary elements in this
definition that must both be present in
order to identify the process of learning.

36. MEANING / DEFINITIONS….
• First is the element that the change must
be relatively permanent. This means that
after “learning” our behaviour must be
different, either better or worse as
compared to our behaviour prior to this
experience of learning.
• The second aspect of the definition is
that this change must occur due to some
kind of experience or practice. This
learning is not caused by biological
maturation.

37. CHARACTERISTICS OF
LEARNING
• 1) Learning is an inferred process that is
believed to influence behaviour.
• 2) Learning results in a relatively
permanent change in behaviour.
Behaviour that is learnt, therefore, is
relatively constant over time.
• 3) Learning involves change, it may be
good or bad.
• 4) Learning comes from some form of
experience. Experience may be acquired
directly through practice or observation
or through reading.

38. CHARACTERISTICS OF
LEARNING…
• 5) Learning is source of change in
behaviour and performance.
• 6) Learning is continuous process. It has
the ability to respond adequately to a
situation that may or may not have been
encountered. It is not restricted to the
schooldays but it is a lifelong process.
• 7) Learning is the outcome of various
related factors. The important factors
that determine learning are motive,
stimuli, response, reinforcement and
retention.

39. THEORIES OF LEARNING
• There are five general approaches to
learning that are identified.
• They are :–
• i) Classical Conditioning Theory,
• ii) Instrumental or Operant Conditioning
Theory,
• iii) Cognitive Learning Theory,
• iv) Selective Learning Theory and
• v) Social Learning theory.

40. i) Classical Conditioning
Theory
• Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist owes
credit for developing this theory. He
conducted an experiment on dogs and
developed a stimulus- response
connection. This means that certain
responses can be predicted which
continuously result from certain induced
stimuli. Classical conditioning introduces
a simple cause-and-effect relationship
between one stimulus and one response.

41. • It also makes the response reflexive or
involuntary after the stimulus-response
relationship has been established. This
leaves no ground for making choices,
which differentiates human beings from
dogs. Under certain situations classical
conditioning does explain human
behaviour.

42. ii) Instrumental or Operant
Conditioning Theory
• Operant conditioning is concerned with
learning that occurs as a consequence of
behaviour. It focuses on the effects of
reinforcements or rewards on desired
behaviours. This learning is based on the
simple fact that “the actions we perform
often result in some consequences”.

43. • This theory was developed by Watson, a
contemporary of Pavlov. He argued that
behaviour was largely influenced by the
rewards one received as result of
actions. In other words, we now know
that people change their behaviour by
repeating acts that are rewarded and not
repeating acts that the environment fails
to reward.

44. iii) Cognitive Learning Theory
• Learning is considered as the outcome of
deliberate thinking about the problem or
situation both intuitively and based upon
known facts and responding in an
objective and goal oriented manner.
Cognition, in fact, is the act of knowing
an item of information and this
knowledge affects the behaviour of the
person so that the information provides
cognitive cues towards the expected
goal.

45. iv) Selective Learning Theory
• Selective learning theory is also
cognitively based but it is more directly
aimed at learning. In selective learning
the person must not only associate
stimulus and response and consequence
experiences but must also determine
which things to connect in the mind.
Under this approach, a person chooses
from a wide variety of possible leaning
mechanisms.

46. • It involves a complex interaction among
thinking, emotions, perception and
motivation. Thus, there are many
cognitions that come into play in
selective learning. This theory is also
named as “insightful learning and
perceptual learning”. This is applied in
relation to complicated learning tasks.

47. v) Social Learning theory
• It is recognized that learning does not take place
only because of environmental stimuli (classical
and operant conditioning) or of individual
determinism (cognitive approach) but is a blend
of both views. It also emphasizes that people
acquire new behaviour by observing or imitating
others in a social setting. In addition learning
can also be gained by discipline and self-control
and an inner desire to acquire knowledge or
skills irrespective of the external rewards or
consequences. This process of self-control is
also partially a reflection of societal and cultural
influences on the development and growth of
human beings.

48. PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING
• There are many widely recognised
principles of learning that can assist the
manager attempting to influence behaviour.
Some of these are principles are :
– i) Reinforcements
– ii) Punishments
– iii) Avoidance Learning
– iv) Extinction
– v) Knowledge of results
– vi) Schedules of Positive
Reinforcement
– vii) Acquisition - Learning curves
– viii) Spontaneous Recovery

49. Reinforcements
• Reinforcement plays a significant role in
the learning theories. It is defined as
any event that alters the probability of
occurrence of a response. It is anything
that both increases the strength of
responses and tends to induce
repetitions of the behaviour that
preceded the reinforcement. It is the
process by which stimuli strengthen
behaviour.

50. Punishments
• Punishment is defined presenting an
uncomfortable consequence for a
particular behavioural response. It is
used to decrease the frequency of
undesired behaviour. The difference
between punishment and negative
reinforcement is that in the former case,
a noxious consequence is applied to
decrease the frequency of undesired
behaviour, whereas in the latter, a
noxious consequence is withheld when a
desired behaviour is exhibited.

51. Avoidance Learning
• Avoidance learning is the seeking to
avoid an unpleasant condition or
outcome by following a desired
behaviour. In other words, when
behaviour can prevent an uncomfortable
stimulus it is called avoidance behaviour.
For example, if an employee correctly
performs a task so that the supervisor
may avoid harassing the employee.
Similarly, in order to avoid he discomfort
the employee may achieve the group
sanctioned level of production.

52. Extinction
• Extinction is non-reinforcement that
leads to an ‘extinction’ of undesired
behaviour. When the positive
reinforcement for a learned response is
withheld, the undesired behaviour
decreases and will eventually disappear.
Thus, the decline in response rate as a
result of a lack of positive reinforcement
is called extinction.
• For example, if an employee is
consistently late, the supervisor may
withhold praise. Thus , the employee
may realise that being late is not leading
to desired outcomes and may try to be

53. Knowledge of results
• Human behaviour is always a goal-directed
behaviour. Knowing goals and their results leads to
learning and behaviour modification. Employees
who have no idea o whether they are doing an
acceptable job have little chance to improve their
performances. The knowledge of correct behaviour
is reinforcing and strengthens the preceding
behaviour.
• Edwin Locke found in his research studies that
feedback affects performance only to the extent to
which employees set higher performance goals in
response to such feedback. Thus, goals can be
achieved when employees are provided with
accurate feedback on performance.

54. Schedules of Positive
Reinforcement
• There are number of ways in which
reinforcements can be scheduled. A
continuous schedule is one in which
reinforcement occurs after every
acceptable behaviour. But this is not
feasible.
• Bass and Vaughn have concluded that
“learning is more permanent when
correct behaviour is rewarded only part
of the time”.
• Fester and Skinner have presented four
types of reinforcements schedules for
operant learning situations.

55. Acquisition - Learning curves
• These curves apply mainly to classical
conditioning. This principle shows that
there is a gradually increasing strength
of response for each repeated trial.
Psychologist have shown the practical
significance of these curves to the
learning in the following ways :
• a) The more unfamiliar the task to be
learned, the more likely it is that
progress will be slow at the start and will
then increase.

56. • b) In most learning of complicated skills,
there is at least one period, short or
long. In which each new trial produces
an improvement o equal size.
• c) As we approach the ultimate limit of
learning, progress slows down and it
takes many trials to produce even a
small amount of improvement..

57. Spontaneous Recovery
• Again this principle is related to classical
conditioning concept. This indicates that if
people experience a sequence of non
reinforced conditioned responses and then
take a rest, immediately thereafter they
will return to a more intense level of
conditioned response even though no
reinforcement has taken place. This jump
in response strength following rest is
known as the notion of spontaneous
recovery. This principle explains that the
conditioned response does not completely
disappear during extinction, but remains
suppressed .

58. LEARNING PRINCIPLES
• i) All human beings can learn.
• ii) An individual must be motivated to
learn.
• iii) Learning is active but not passive.
• iv) Learners acquire knowledge more
rapidly with guidance.
• v) Time must be provided to practice
learning.
• vi) Learning methods should be varied.
• vii) Standards of performance should be
set for the learners.

59. LEARNING PRINCIPLES…
• viii) Different levels of learning exist.
• ix) Learning is a cumulative process.
• x) Learning is closely related to
attention and concentration.
• xi) Trainees learn better when they
learn at their own place.
• xii) Make the learning meaningful by
using familiar examples and
summaries.
• xiii) When the learner has made the
correct responses to the learning
process, he has learned.-
G.S.Sudha.

60. DETERMINANTS OF
LEARNING
• The important factors that determine
learning are:
• i) Motive or drive
• ii) Stimuli :- a) Generalisation
• b) Discrimination
• iii) Responses
• iv) Reinforcements
• v) Retention.

61. Motive or drive
• Motives refer to certain goals that the
individual attempts to achieve. They are
primary energisers of behaviour. Motives
prompt people to action. They are largely
subjective and represent the mental
feelings of human beings. They are the
ways o behaviour and main springs of
action. Motive arises continuously and
determines the general direction of an
individual’s behaviour.

62. Stimuli
• Stimuli exists in the environment in
which a person lives. Stimuli increase
the probability of extracting a specific
response from a person. Stimuli may be
two types :
• a) Generalisation
• b) Discrimination.

63. • GENERALISATION takes place when the
similar stimulus repeats in the
environment. When two stimuli are
exactly the same, they will have the
probability to extract a specific response.
• DISCRIMINATION has wide applications
in organisational behaviour in view of
individuals differences. In discrimination,
responses of the individuals vary
according to different stimuli.
• For example. A supervisor may respond
to a high producing worker in a positive
manner, but in a different manner to one
producing very less.

64. Responses
• The stimulus generates response. The
response may be in the physical form or
in terms of attitudes or perception.
However, the responses need to be
operationally defined and preferably
physically observable.
• The response of the individuals is termed
as ‘ behaviour ‘. The response may be
either positive or negative.

65. Reinforcements
• Reinforcement is a primary condition of
learning. Reinforcement is, anything that
increases the strength of response and
tends to induce repetitions of the
behaviour that precede the
reinforcement. Without reinforcement no
quantifiable alteration of behaviour will
take place. Reinforcement helps in the
repetition of any behaviour.
• For example. If an employee is rewarded
for his hard work, he repeats his
behaviour, i.e. he works harder to get the
reward again.

66. Retention
• The learned behaviour should be
retrieved according to the needs.
Retention means remembrance of
learned behaviour over time.
• Learning which is forgotten over time is
called ‘extinction’.
• When response behaviour returns
without any intervening reinforcement, it
is called “spontaneous recovery”.