percept ion

After studying this module,

OBJECTIVES

you should be able to:

 understand how two people can see the same
thing and interpret it differently
 describe how shortcuts can assist in or distort
LEARNING

our judgment of others

 Perception: implications for managers
What Is Perception, and Why Is It Important?

Perception
People’s behavior is
A process by which based on their
individuals organize and perception of what
interpret their sensory
impressions in order to
reality is, not on
give meaning to their reality itself.
environment.
Human mind
assembles,
organizes and
categorizes
information
 Factors That
Influence
Perception

All these factors will be discussed in the

subsequently
 Perceptual Process
Stimuli Organising (Or Receiving Stimuli)

Perceptual Organisation
Selective Attention (or Selecting Stimuli)

Interpreting (Assigning meaning) Response

Perception process: 6 Steps
1. Stimuli
2. Organising (or Receiving Stimuli)
3. Selective Attention (or Selecting Stimuli)
4. Perceptual Organisation
5. Interpreting
6. Response
1. Stimuli

 We live in the world of objects, therefore we are constantly

bombarded with stimuli

 We are often subject to the influence of stimuli

 Stimuli can be external and internal

 External: sound waves, light waves, mechanical energy or

pressure, and chemical energy from objects that we can smell
and taste
 Internal: energy generated by muscles, food passing through
the digestive system, and glands secreting behavior-influencing
hormones
2. Organising (or Receiving Stimuli)

 Stimuli enter in our organism through sensory organs: vision,

hearing, smell, touch, taste and kinaesthetics

 In other words – stimuli are received by us through these

organs

 Sensory organs perceive not only physical objects but also the
events or the objects that have been repressed
 3. Selective Attention (or Selecting Stimuli)

 Not all the stimuli received by the human organism are

accepted by it
 Some stimuli are noticed and some are screened out

 Example:
 A nurse working in a post-operative care might ignore the smell of recently
disinfected instruments or the sound of coworkers talking nearby, but she would
immediately notice the flashing red light bulb on the nurse station console.
 Boy happily studying with full concentration even while the TV is on

 The process of filtering information received by or sense is

called selective attention (or selecting stimuli)
 Several factors influence selective attention; some of these
factors are external and other are internal to our body
Lets discuss some of these external factors
Quick snap-shot of external factors:

o Nature
o Location
o Colour
o Size
o Contrast
o Movement
o Repetition
o Novelty and familiarity
 Nature: refers to whether the object is visual or auditory and
whether it involves pictures, people or animals.

o Picture attract attention more readily than words

o Picture of a human being or animal attracts attention more than
picture of inanimate objects alone
o Rhyming auditory passage attracts more attention than the
same passage presented as narrative
Location:

o The best location for a visual stimulus for attracting attention is

directly in front of the eyes
o Or for example, in the centre of the page
Colour:

o Colour attracts attention and portray realism

o In the mass of black and white, a modicum of color catches the
eye
o A single colour in an advertising can enhance the attention-
getting value
o Colours also have psychological impacts on individuals
o Some colours can act as stimulant and others as depressant
e.g. a dark blue ceiling may appear refreshing but after sometimes it starts
becoming irritant
 The Effects of Different Colours

Colour Psychological Effect Temperature Effect Distance Effect

Violet Aggressive Cold Very close
Blue Restful Cold Further away
Brown Exciting Neutral Claustrophobic
Green Very restful Cold/neutral Further away
Yellow Exciting Very warm Close
Orange Exciting Very warm Very close
Red Very stimulating Warm Close
Size:

o Generally objects of larger size attract more attention

e.g. a 6 feet 5 inches tall boss may receive more attention than a 5 foot 7 inches tall
boss
Contrast:

o Contrast principle states that external stimuli which stand out

against the background, will receive attention

e.g. safety signs in black lettering on yellow background

Movement:

o The principle of motion states that a moving object receives

more attention than an object that is stationary

e.g. attention of a work will normally be more on the conveyer belt rather than the
wall paintings
 Contrast Principle: Example
The dark circle on the right side appears to be larger than the one
of left, however they both are of same size
Repetition:

o The repetition principle states that a repeated stimulus is more

attention drawing than a non-repetitive one

e.g. repeated ads on the TV are based on this principle

Novelty and Familiarity:

o This principle states that either a novel or a familiar external

situation can serve as a attention getter, and
o new objects in familiar settings or familiar objects in new
settings will draw attention

e.g. job rotation helps workers increase the attention

 3. Selective Attention (or Selecting Stimuli)

 Not all the stimuli received by the human organism are

accepted by it
 Some stimuli are noticed and some are screened out

 Example:
 A nurse working in a post-operative care might ignore the smell of recently
disinfected instruments or the sound of coworkers talking nearby, but she would
immediately notice the flashing red light bulb on the nurse station console.
 Boy happily studying with full concentration even while the TV is on

 The process of filtering information received by or sense is

called selective attention (or selecting stimuli)
 Several factors influence selective attention; some of these
factors are external and other are internal to our body
Lets discuss some of these internal factors
Quick snap-shot of internal factors:

o Learning
o Needs
o Age difference
o Interest
o Ambivalence
o Paranoid perception
Quick snap-shot of internal factors:

o Learning: is a cognitive factor, has considerable influence on perception. It creates

expectancy in people, and expectancy makes him see what he wants to see.

o Needs: needs play a significant role in perceptual selectivity. Usual things often
look real because of deprived needs. E.g. a thirsty person in desert gets illusion of
water.

o Age difference: young ones take cycling as fun, whereas older may take it as
helpful cardiovascular exercise
Learning Principle: Example
Quick snap-shot of internal factors:

o Interest: an architect will notice many details of a building while passing by only
once, whereas someone else may pass by the same building several times for years
without even observing such details

o Ambivalence: mixed feelings about a situation

o Paranoid perception: when a person’s perception is so selective that he/she can

find a little common ground for communication with others, he is likely to be
paranoid.
It is the characteristics of am emotionally disturbed person that his/her perceptual
field differs from that of reality and personalized interpretation. His/her self concept
is poor and he/she is very “insecure”, as a result of which he/she behaves in an
inflexible manner.
4. Perceptual Organization

 Perceptual organization is the process by which people group

stimuli into recognizable patterns

 Example:
 What mental picture do you have for a wooden object with 4 legs?
 When people actually see the above wooden object having these characteristics,
they are able to organize information into meaningful whole and recognize the
object to be a chair

 Following factors help understand the perceptual organization:

o Ambiguous figures
o Figure background
o Perceptual grouping (including: similarity, closure, continuity and area)
o Perceptual constancy
Ambiguous Attractive or Ugly Woman?
Figures

An Ambiguous Figure — a An Ambiguous Figure — a

duck or a rabbit kneeling woman or a man’s
face
Figure
A Figure Ground Experiement
Background

Figure Background Demonstration

Relationship of target to its background

influences the perception, and the
perceived objects stand out as separable
from the background
 Perceptual Grouping

Principle of Similarity

Objects of similar size,

shape, color etc tend to
Similarity be grouped together

Principle of Proximity
Tendency to perceive
stimuli which are near one
another as belonging
together

Proximity
 Perceptual Grouping
Closure
Perceiving on the basis of
missing stimuli

The Principle of Closure

 Perceptual Grouping
Continuity

 is the tendency to perceive objects as continues patterns

 The tendency to perceive continuous pattern may result in an inability to
perceive uniqueness and detect changes
 The principle of continuity is closely related to the principle of closure, but
there is a difference  closure supplies missing stimuli, whereas
continuity principle says that a person will tend to perceive continues
lines or patterns
An Example of Perceptual Continuity
 Perceptual Grouping
Area
 Where one part of the area depicting the figure is smaller than
the remainder, it is more likely that smaller area will be noticed as
actual figure and rest of the figure as background only

An Example of Area
Perceptual Constancy

 Perceptual constancy refers to our ability to perceive certain

characteristics of an object while remaining keep constant,
despite variations in stimuli that provide us with conflicting
information

o Shape constancy (whenever an object appears to maintain its shape

despite marked changes in the retinal image Example: top the bottle
appears circular whether seen from top or side)

o Size constancy (no matter how further the object is moved, we tend to
see it more or less variant Example: football player on the opposite
side of the field do not look smaller to other player, even though the
images on the retina are smaller )

o Color constancy (familiar objects appear to be of same colour under

varied conditions Example: owner of blue car will see it as blue
whether looking in bright sunlight, in dim illumination, or under yellow
street light)
Perceptual error: Illusion

Illusion can be understood as reliable perceptual error (when the

constancy doesn’t hold good)

An Example of Illusion
5. Interpreting

 After data has been received and organised, the perceiver

interprets or assigns meaning to the information.
 In fact, perception is said to have taken place only after the
data have been interpreted
 Several factors contribute toward interpretation of data. More
important amongst them are:
o Perceptual set
o Attribution
o Stereotyping
o Halo effect
o Perceptual context
o Perceptual defense
o Implicit personality theory
o Projection
Perceptual set

o Previously held beliefs about objects influencing individual's

perception of similar objects
e.g. a manager may have developed a general belief that the workers are lazy, and
they want to get best from the organization without putting much efforts. His
subsequent perceptions will be influenced by this set

All workers are selfish

Attribution

o Process by which the individual assigns causes to the behavior

e.g. a nurse who drops a tray of medicine will be excused if the incident is perceived
as caused by slippery floor, and chastised if it is perceived to be caused by her
clumsiness and perhaps fired if it is perceived as a deliberate act.
Stereotyping

o Stereotyping is tendency to assign attributes to someone solely on

the basis of a category of people to which that person belongs

e.g. all New Zealanders are destructive and money grubbers

o Stereotyping can lead to inaccuracies and negative consequences

o Stereotyping is a four step process
Ø Categorizing people into groups according to various criteria such as age, sex, race,
occupation, religion etc
Ø Inferring that all people within a particular category possess the same traits
Ø Forming expectations for other ; and
Ø Interpreting their behavior according to our stereotypes
Halo effect

o Drawing general impression of individual on the basis of a single

characteristic
o i.e. if someone is good at one dimension, he/she is perceived to
be good at other dimensions as well

Example:

He is very amiable
 He must definitely be a good husband
 He must be soft-hearted
 He must be a true friend
 He must be a good son
The Halo Effect: A Demonstration
Perceptual defense

o According to this principle, an individual is likely to put up a

defense when confronted with conflicting, unacceptable, or
threatening stimuli
o The defense mechanism is of four forms:
Ø Outright denial: the factory worker was not intelligent
Ø Modification of data received: a factory worker was intelligent but he/she usually
lack initiative (associating intelligence with initiative – modification)
Ø Change in perception but refusal to change mechanism: the world ‘intelligent’
itself conflicts with a factory worker (change in perception)…may be a factory
worker cannot be too intelligent (refusal to change mechanism)
Ø Change in perception itself : the worker was really intelligent because he was
really witty and good at jokes (Note: however the perception has changed, but this
change is quite subtle i.e. not significant)
Projection

o Under certain conditions, people tend to see in another person traits

that they themselves possess i.e. they project their own feelings,
tendencies, or motives into their judgment of others

e.g. an individual who is himself not very energetic may see others as lazy or may
explain their lack of achievement as resulting from their unwillingness to work
Person Perception: Making Judgments About
Others

Attribution Theory
When individuals observe
behavior, they attempt to
determine whether it is
internally or externally
caused.

Distinctiveness: shows different behaviors in different situations

Consensus: response is the same as others to same situation
Consistency: responds in the same way over time
Attribution Theory
Rules of Attribution
Errors and Biases in Attributions

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to underestimate
the influence of external factors
and overestimate the influence
of internal factors when making
judgments about the behavior
of others.
Errors and Biases in Attributions (cont’d)

Self-Serving Bias
The tendency for individuals
to attribute their own
successes to internal factors
while putting the blame for
failures on external factors.
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others

Selective Perception
Generally people cannot assimilate all they observe, but rather
take in bits and pieces
People selectively interpret what they see on the basis of their
interests, background, experience, and attitudes etc.
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others

Halo Effect
Drawing a general impression about
an individual on the basis of a
single characteristic

Contrast Effects
Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that are
affected by comparisons with other people recently
encountered who rank higher or lower on the same
characteristics.
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others

Expectations (Self-fulfilling prophecy)

People’s preconceived expectations and beliefs determine their
behavior, thus, serving to make their expectations come true
e.g. if a supervisor believes that a new employee will not be able to perform the
job, this expectation influences the supervisor’s behavior towards the employee
 Perception: Implications for Managers

 Helps understand the difference between perceived world and

real world
 Plays decisive role in employee hiring
 Key role in performance appraisal
 Helps determine loyalty of employees
 Treating employees under Theory Y
 Individual decision making
Managing Perceptual Process

 Have a high level of self-awareness: Individual needs, experience,

and expectations can all affect perceptions. The successful
manager knows this and is able to identify when he or she is
inappropriately distorting a situation because of such perceptual
tendencies.

 Seek information from various sources to confirm or disconfirm

personal impressions of a decision situation: The successful
manager minimizes the biases of personal perceptions by seeking
out the viewpoints of others. These insights are used to gain
additional perspective on situations and the problems or
opportunities they represent.
Managing Perceptual Process

» Be empathetic-that is, be able to see a situation as it is perceived

by other people: Different people will define the same situation
somewhat differently. The successful manager rises above
personal impressions to understand problems as seen by other
people.

» Influence perceptions of other people when they are drawing

incorrect or incomplete impressions of events in the work setting:
People act in terms of their perceptions. The successful manager is
able to influence the perceptions of others so that work events and
situations are interpreted as accurately as possible and to the
advantage of all concerned.
Managing Perceptual Process

» Avoid common perceptual distortions that bias our views of people

and situations: These distortions include the use of stereotypes
and halo effects, as well as selective perception and projection.
Successful managers are self-disciplined and sufficiently self-aware
so that the adverse impacts of these distortions are minimized.

» Avoid inappropriate attributions: Everyone has a tendency to try

and explain why events happened the way they did or why people
behaved as they did. The successful manager is careful to establish
the real reasons why things happen and avoid quick or
inappropriate attributions of casualty.
Managing Perceptual Process

» Diversity management programmes: As firms globalize themselves,

diversity management assumes greater relevance. The challenge
for corporate executives is to leverage the benefits of this diversity
while minimizing the perceptual and behavioral problems that tend
to accompany heterogeneity. OB experts have designed diversity
management programmes. Typically, these training programmes
serve two purposes. First, they communicate the value of diversity.
Second, these programmes help participants become aware of
their personal biases and give them more accurate information
about people with different backgrounds, thus avoiding perceptual
distortions.

» Know yourself: Apply the Johari window to know the real self. A
powerful way to minimize perceptual biases is to know and become
more aware of one’s values, beliefs, and prejudice.
Thank you