INTERPERSONAL

COMMUNICATION
&
PERCEPTION
UNDERSTANDING INTERPERSONAL
PERCEPTION

¡ Perception is the process of experiencing

your world and then making sense out of
what you experience
¡ The process of perception also includes
organizing and interpreting information
provided by the senses.
¡ Interpersonal perception is the process by
which you decide what people are like
and give meaning to their actions.
¡ How many legs does this elephant have?
¡ Illusions are used to show that our senses can be
tricked-this happens in communication when there is
a difference in what we expect and what really is
happening. (Not to mention, their attention getters)
Count the black dots
 Can you read this
fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed
tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was

rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a
rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr
the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit
and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses
and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm Tihs is bcuseae the
huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a
wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was
ipmorantt!
 STAGES OF INTERPERSONAL PERCEPTION PROCESS

Interpersonal
Perception
Selecting Interpreting
Process

Organizing
Stage 1 : Selecting
¡ When you meet someone new, you select
certain information to attend to e.g.
gender, smile, tone of voice etc.

Principles of Selection
¡ Selective perception occurs when we see,
hear or make sense of the world around
us based on a mass of factors such as our
personality, beliefs, attitudes, hopes,
fears and culture as well as what we like
and don’t like.
 Cont….

¡ Selective attention is the process of

focusing on specific stimuli; we
selectively lock on to some things in
our environment and ignore others.

¡ We have the tendency to attend to

those things around us that relate
to our needs and wants.
 Cont…

¡ Selective exposure is our tendency

to put ourselves in situations that
reinforce our attitudes, beliefs,
values or behaviors.

¡ We are more likely to be in places

that make us feel comfortable
rather than places that make us
uncomfortable.
 Cont…

¡ Selective recall occurs when we

remember things we want to
remember and forget or repress
things that are unpleasant,
uncomfortable or unimportant to us.
Thin slicing: Making a Judgment Based on a Small
Sample of Behavior

¡ Thin slicing in the perception

process is observing a small sample
of someone’s behavior and then
making a generalization about what
the person is like, based on the
sample.
Stage 2: Organizing

¡ We organize our world by creating

categories, linking together the
categories we’ve created and then
seeking closure by filling in any
missing gaps in what we perceive
We Create Categories
¡ After we perceive certain stimuli, we organize
them into convenient, understandable and
efficient categories that let us make sense of
what we have observed.

¡ Organizing what we perceive makes it easier

to process complex information. We can more
easily store and recall simple patterns.
We Link Categories
¡ We link them together as a way of further
making sense of how and what we
experience. We link the categories
through a process called punctuation.

¡ Punctuation is the process of making

sense out of stimuli by grouping,
dividing, organizing, separating and
further categorizing information
¡ E.g. 801102103123, 6038 5098,
4404 5433 0981 4476, 2111445
We Seek Closure

¡ Closure is the process of filling in

missing information or gaps in what
we perceive.
Stage 3 : Interpreting
We assign meaning to what we have
observed.

You’re attempting to interpret the

meaning of the verbal and nonverbal
cues you experience.
 Perceiving Others
¡ Our perceptions of others affects the
ways in which we communicate with
them.
¡ Perception can be either a passive or
an active process.
¡ Interpersonal perception involves
three processes :
1. How we form impression of others
2. How we describe others
3. How we interpret the behavior of other
 1. How We Form Impression of Others
Impressions are collections of
perceptions about others that we
maintain and use to interpret their
behavior.
- Primacy Effect is the tendency to
attend to the first pieces of information
observed about another person.
- Recency Effect is the tendency to
attend to the most recent information
observed about another person
 2. How We Describe Others

- Halo Effect : Generating Positive Qualities to

Others.
Categorizing the people we like in which we
attribute a variety of positive qualities to them
without confirming the existence of these
qualities.

- Horn Effect : Generating negative Qualities to

Others.
We make negative assumptions about others
because you don’t like the way he/she looks.
Attributing a variety of negative qualities to
those you dislike
3. How We Interpret the Behavior of
Other

¡ Attribution Theory explain how you

generate explanations for people’s
behaviors
¡ Causal Attribution Theory identifies the
causes of a person’s actions as
circumstance, a stimulus or the person
himself or herself.

¡ Standpoint Theory interpret the behavior

of others through the lens of our own
social position, power or cultural
background
Barriers to Accurate Interpersonal
Perception

¡ Ignoring information
¡ Over generalizing
¡ Over simplifying
¡ Stereotyping
¡ Imposing consistency
¡ Focusing on the negative
¡ Blaming: assuming that others have
control
¡ Avoiding responsibility
Improving Your Perception Skills

¡ Link Details with the Big picture

¡ Become Aware of Others’
Perceptions of You
¡ Increase Your Conscious Awareness
¡ Become Other-Oriented
¡ Check Your Perceptions
¡The end
 Class exercise

¡ Pair up with someone in class whom you do not know

and have not interacted with before. Without saying
anything to each other, write down the words from the
following list that you think apply to the other person.
¡ Intelligent, nice, introvert, talented, emotional, leader,
athletic, funny, extrovert, happy, artistic, hard worker,
brave, uncertain, friendly, shy, moody responsible,
confused.
¡ Now chat together for 5 mins.
¡ In a separate section of your paper, write down any
additional words that you believe apply to the person.
¡ Write an essay about the process you been through and
how your perception changed.
Chapter 3: Perception Checking Practice

Write complete perception checking statements (including behavioral description, two

interpretations and request for clarification) in response to the following situations:

l Your mother usually calls you every day, but she hasn’t called for three days.
You decide to call her, and she answers—but sounds like she might be mad
about something.
¡

l Your classmate of the opposite sex keeps asking you to “go out for a drink”
after class, but you haven’t been able to go. You’re interested in this person
as a friend, but think they may have something more in mind.
¡
l You usually have lunch with the same friend every day, but for the past four
days she/he hasn’t been able to meet you—nor has he/she offered an excuse
or really talked much to you at all.
¡

l You ask your sister/brother how school was and they respond, “Great,”
slamming the bedroom door behind her/him.
¡
l Your roommate promised to wash the dishes two nights ago, but they’re not
washed.
¡