What is Perception?

 The process of interpreting the messages of our senses to

provide order and meaning to the environment
 Depends on
 Target

 Attributes of a target, relationship of target to others,

etc.
 Situation

 Social or work setting, actions of others, etc.

 Perceiver

 Attitudes, experiences, personalities, etc.

Perceptual Process Model

Feeling Hearing Seeing Smelling Tasting

Selective Attention

Organization and
Interpretation

Emotions and
Behavior
Bruner’s Model of the Perceptual Process
 Factors That Influence Perception
Characteristics of the Perceiver
Values and attitudes
Motives
Interests
Experience
Expectations
Perceptual context
Time Perception
Work setting
Social setting Characteristics of the Target
Structural beauty
Novelty and Familiarity
Motion and Change
Repetition
Intensity
Sounds
Size
Contrast and Background
Proximity
Perceptual organization

 When we are given a cluster of sensations, we organize them

into a “gestalt” or a “whole”

 “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

 We take in sensory information and infer a perception that

makes sense to us based on our past experiences.
PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION

Closure- output is low, supervisor complaints a number of

grievances then the management perceives the whole group to
be trouble making

Continuity - Closely related to the closure; the continuity

principle says that a person will tend to perceive continuous
lines or patterns. (leads to inflexibility; noncreativity; only the
obvious, or continuous patterns are perceived

Proximity- employees working in a particular machine

identified as a single group because of physical proximity.
PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION

Similarity – Greater the similarity of stimuli, greater the

tendency to perceive them as a common group; e.g., blue
uniform having same characteristics when in fact each is
unique and different

Perceptual Constancy – gives a person a sense of stability in

the changing world; Learning plays a critical role; if constancy
were not at work, the world would be very chaotic; e.g.
deciding & selecting right tool for right nuts

Perceptual Context - meaning & value to a simple stimuli,

e.g., a Memo or pat on the back
Attribution Theory
Attribution Theory

When individuals observe behaviour, they try to guess if it is

“internally” or “externally” caused
Fundamental attribution error
When judging other people’s SUCCESS we Inflate the role of
external factors Underestimate the role of internal factors
When judging other people’s FAILURES we: Inflate the role
of internal factors Underestimate the role of external factors

Self-serving bias
Opposite of fundamental attribution error
Shortcuts Used in Judging Others

 Selective Perception – a perceptual filtering process based on

interests, background, and attitude. May allow observers to
draw unwarranted conclusions from an ambiguous situation.
 Halo Effect – drawing a general impression based on a single
characteristic.
 Contrast Effects – our reaction is influenced by others we
have recently encountered (the context of the observation).
 Stereotyping – judging someone on the basis of the
perception of the group to which they belong.
Locus of control & Attribution

Work behaviour may be explained by whether employee

perceives his outcome as controlled internally/externally

Those who perceive internal control, personally influence the

outcome through their ability, skills or effort

Those who perceive external control feel outcomes beyond

their control (external forces control their outcome)

Important: perceived locus of control may have different

impact on their performance & satisfaction.
Self efficacy

Self efficacy affect the attributes people make

Highly self efficacious person think they themselves are the

reason for success

Tend to make positive internal attributes about their success

Improving Perceptual Accuracy
Diversity
Initiatives

Know
Improving Empathize
Yourself
Perceptual With Others
Accuracy

Compare Postpone
Perceptions Impression
With Others Formation
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Cycle

Employee’s Expectations
behavior matches affect supervisor’s
expectations behavior

Supervisor’s
behavior affects
employee
The Stereotyping Process

Develop categories Scientists are

and assign traits absent-minded

Our instructor
is a scientist

Assign category’s traits Our instructor is

to the person absent-minded
Rational Decision-Making Model

 Define the problem.

 Identify the decision criteria.
 Allocate weights to the criteria.
 Develop the alternatives.
 Evaluate the alternatives.
 Select the best alternative.
Assumptions of the Model

 Complete knowledge of the situation

 All relevant options are known in an unbiased
manner
 The decision-maker seeks the highest utility
Bounded Rationality

 The limited information-processing capability of

human beings makes it impossible to assimilate and
understand all the information necessary to
optimize

 So people seek solutions that are satisfactory and

sufficient, rather than optimal (they “satisfice”)

 Bounded rationality is constructing simplified

models that extract the essential features from
problems without capturing all their complexity
Decision Making in Bounded Rationality

Simpler than rational decision making, composed of

three steps:

1. Limited search for criteria and alternatives – familiar

criteria and easily found alternatives
2. Limited review of alternatives – focus alternatives,
similar to those already in effect
3. Satisficing – selecting the first alternative that is
“good enough”
Intuitive Decision Making

 An non-conscious process created out of distilled

experience
 Increases with experience
 Can be a powerful complement to rational analysis
in decision making
Common Biases and Errors

 Overconfidence Bias
As managers and employees become more knowledgeable
about an issue, the less likely they are to display
overconfidence
 Anchoring Bias
A tendency to fixate on initial information and fail to
adequately adjust for subsequent information
 Confirmation Bias
Seeking out information that reaffirms our past choices and
discounting information that contradicts past judgments
 Availability Bias
The tendency to base judgments on information that is readily
available
 Escalation of Commitment
Staying with a decision even when there is clear evidence that
it is wrong
 Hindsight Bias
The tendency to believe falsely that we could have accurately
predicted the outcome of an event after that outcome is
already known
Organizational Constraints on Decision Making

 Performance evaluations
 Reward systems
 Formal regulations
 Self-imposed time constraints
 Historical precedents
Ethical Frameworks for Decision Making

Utilitarian
 Provide the greatest good for the greatest number

Rights
 make decisions consistent with fundamental liberties and
privileges
Justice
 impose and enforce rules fairly and impartially so that
there is equal distribution of benefits and costs
Creativity in Decision Making

 The ability to produce novel and useful ideas

Helps people to:
 Better understand the problem

 See problems others can’t see

 Identify all viable alternatives

 Identify alternatives that aren’t readily apparent