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PERCEPTION

FOUNDATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR

“ WE DON’T SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE, WE SEE THINGS AS WE ARE.”

PERCEPTION “ The study of perception is concerned with

identifying the process through which we interpret and organize sensory information to produce our conscious experience of objects and object relationship.”

“ Perception is the process of receiving information about and making sense of the world around us. It involves deciding which information to notice, how to categorize this information and how to interpret it within the framework of existing knowledge.

PERCEPTION“A process by which individuals organize and

interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment ”.

The process by which an individual selects, organizes, and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world

Attitudes andBehaviours

Organization andInterpretation (Perception)

Selective Attention

PERCEPTUAL PROCESS MODEL

Feeling Hearing Seeing Smelling Tasting

Environmental Stimuli

THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS

1. SensationAn individual’s ability

to detect stimuli in the immediate environment.

2. SelectionThe process a person

uses to eliminate some of the stimuli that have been sensed and to retain others for further processing.

3. Organization The process of placing

selected perceptual stimuli into a framework for “storage.”

4. Interpretation The stage of the

perceptual process at which stimuli are interpreted and given meaning.

THE ABSOLUTE THRESHOLD The lowest level at which an individual can

experience a sensation is called the absolute threshold.

The point at which a person can detect a difference between ‘something’ and ‘nothing’ is that person’s absolute threshold for that stimulus.

e.g. the distance through which you spot/notice a billboard. For a particular stimulus, if the exposure increases, we notice it less. This is called Sensory adaptation.

Sensory adaptation is a problem for advertisers.

The advertisers try to increase sensory inputs like product trial, scented strips, inserts and pop-ups, product placement.

THE DIFFERENTIAL THRESHOLD The minimal difference that can be detected

between two similar stimuli is called the differential threshold or the just noticeable difference (j.n.d.)

Weber’s Law The stronger the initial stimulus, the greater

the additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be perceived as different

SUBLIMINAL PERCEPTION

As we know that people can be motivated below their level of conscious awareness. People are also stimulated below their level of conscious awareness.

It means that they can perceive stimuli without being consciously aware that they are doing so. This process is called subliminal perception.

PERCEPTUAL GROUPING

Our tendency to group several individual stimuli into a meaningful and recognizable pattern.

It is very basic in nature and largely it seems to be inborn.

Some factors underlying grouping are-continuity -closure-proximity -similarity

ATTRIBUTION THEORY

IS THE CAUSE OF THE BEHAVIOR SEEN AS INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL? WE LOOK FOR THREE TYPES OF INFORMATION TO DECIDE:

DISTINCTIVENESS : Is this person’s performance different on other tasks and in other situations?

CONSISTENCY : Over time, is there a change in behavior or results on this task by this person?

CONSENSUS : Do others perform or behave similarly when in a similar position?

“YES” answers lead to EXTERNAL attributions (Environmental causes)

“NO” answers lead to INTERNAL attributions (Personal causes)

PERCEPTUAL ERRORS & ATTRIBUTIONS

STEREOTYPES : Based on appearance HALO (HORN) EFFECTS : One outstanding

characteristic noted CONTRAST EFFECT : Ordering RECENCY EFFECT : Limited recall PROJECTION : “Similar to me” Error SKEWING ERRORS : Central tendency, leniency,

strictness bias SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY : People respond the

way you “expected” they would SELECTIVE PERCEPTION (MIND SETS) : Filtering,

selection,

ATTRIBUTION ERRORS

THE FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR

the cause of poor performance (by others) is due to personal factors (lazy…didn’t try very hard)

SELF-SERVING BIAS

the cause of poor performance (by myself) is due to situational factors (poor support), not because of a lack of effort

ImprovingPerceptualAccuracy

DiversityManagement

EmpathizeWith Others

PostponeImpressionFormation

KnowYourself

ComparePerceptionsWith Others

IMPROVING PERCEPTUAL ACCURACY

Known to Self Unknown to SelfKnown

to Others

Unknownto Others

OpenArea Blind

Area

UnknownArea

HiddenArea

KNOW YOURSELF (JOHARI WINDOW)

OpenArea

BlindArea

HiddenArea

UnknownArea

Disclosure

Feedback

DEFINING PERSONALITY

Relatively stable pattern of behaviours and consistent internal states that explain a person's behavioural tendencies

Sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others and environment

DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY

Outgoing, talkative

Courteous, empathic

Caring, dependable

Poised, secure

Sensitive, flexible

BIG FIVE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Conscientiousness

Emotional Stability

Openness to Experience

Courtesy of Thompson Doyle Hennessey & Everest

MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR

Extroversion versus introversion

Sensing versus intuition

Thinking versus feeling

Judging versus perceiving

LOCUS OF CONTROL AND SELF-MONITORING Locus of control

Internals believe in their effort and ability Externals believe events are mainly due to

external causes Self-monitoring personality

Sensitivity to situational cues, and ability to adapt your behaviour to that situation

PERSONALITY TRAITS