INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL SCIENCES

Perceptual process

PERCEPTION Perception is a creative process.

It is not simply observing, hearing or sensing what is out there in your environment.

It involves the assigning of meaning to these stimuli.

Infact, experiences are more a product of interpretations rather than the information itself.

SCRIPTS SCHEMATA: AIDS TO PERCEPTION Schemata are the patterns we develop over time to

organize incoming information.

It helps to organize the comprehension of the events.

It gives us a way to construct or assign meaning to new information.

Scripts also affect the expectations about the order of the events.

They help fill in the missing blanks in a particular way.

It is also called our reality.

STRUCTURE: THE WORLD IN OUR HEADS

Is the script something we sense or is it all in our head ?

Probably both, and both are important in creating our realities.

MAINTAINING AND ADJUSTING REALITIES Our scripts are shaped by our

experiences, knowledge, needs, values and beliefs.

New incoming information is tested against them.

It can reinforce preexisting scripts, make a pre existing script clear, add a new element to it, or restructure it.

SET OF EXPECTATIONS AFFECTS INFORMATION PROCESSING Scripts / schemas/ realities are formed

on past.

Even recent past has an effect on our expectations.

E.g. news about a muder, 3 headlines, one suggests suspect is guilty, one is neutral, one suggests suspect is innocent. All three have an impact on our perception about the suspect.

PASSIVE PERCEPTION Sometimes we do not have a set of

previous experiences.

E.g. watching a new tv station, listening to a new song etc.

Expectations are developed on the basis of initial bits of information received e.g the first scene of a drama, first page of a novel, starting music of a song

PERSONAL CHARACTERSTICS IMPACT

ON PERCEPTION

ATTITUDES AND EXPECTATIONS Attitude: The way a person thinks or

acts depending on beliefs, values, and feelings.

Attitude creates a set or expectations of that affects perception. E.g. more violations by the opposite team in sports.

Selective perception – process of screening out information not consistent with our schemas.

Consistency theory – avoiding inconsistency by misinterpreting any new information that might be inconsistent with our attitudes.

Principle of least effort: It is easier to perceive messages that are consistent with what you perceive. It takes more effort to perceive a message that is unexpected or contrary to the way you see the world.

NEED AND INFORMATION: PERSONALITY Needs are important factors when

processing information.

Information relevant to needs is perceived more than other information.

This is true specially in the case of need for concrete things such as food.

REFERENCE GROUPS AND INFORMATION PROCESSING Information processing is affected by

our reference groups which includeFamily, friends, peers etc.Those with whom we associateThose with whom we want to associate

Information processing changes with the reference groupE.g. munni badnam hui with friends, family,

kids and adults, each is different experience

Reference groups shape our sets or expectations for certain kinds of information.

Reference group also effect our opinions.We form an opinion when confronted for it

or if we think we will talk to someone else.The opinion that we develop is based on

who the other person is and what our relationship is to that person.

Personality traits – the more close-minded a person is, the more he is affected by authority figures and vice versa.

Language and information processing – Language gives meaning to your experiences. If you can assign a label to your experience, it becomes meaningful. If not, there is difficulty in believing.

Effects of chunking memory Information is stored in chunks or bloks in

our memory.Chunks can be small, medium, or large.The larger the chunk of information, the

greater the information loss.

OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING INFORMATION PROCESSING Prior Exposure:

It is easier to learn things that you had learned before and forgotten, than those you never learned about.

Repetition and Persuasion:Repetition of a persuasive message causes

people to agree more rapidly with the statement of opinion.

Gaps: We tend to fill missing gaps based on our previous knowledge of similar scenarios.

Iconicity: The degree to which the a symbol is similar to which it represents. The nearer the symbol to the representation, the easier to understand.

Family

ORDER OF EXPOSURE Primacy effect

If you read or hear a series of ideas within a relatively short period of time, the earliest ideas stick best to in your memory.

Recency effect If you read or hear a series of ideas within a

relatively short period of time, the latest (most recent) ideas stick best to in your memory.

Factors determining recency or primacy effect No interest or opinion

When we are not interested in an issue or we have no opinion, we tend to be influenced by the information we receive first.

High interestWhen we are highly interested and need to

understand an issue, the order of information has little or no influence

Suspicion of external influenceWhen we suspect that someone is trying to

influence us, the impact of initial bits of information is reduced.

Involvement in conversation If we become involved in an issue, taking

any position based on the information received up to that point, the ultimate effect of that earlier information is increased.

The more public that commitment, the greater the influence.

DistractionTime and distraction created by other

activities in the intervals between bits of information, the most recent bits of information are most remembered.