Chapter 2 Perception and Communication in Our Lives

Chapter 2 Perception and Communication in Our Lives, 8 th Edition by Julia T. Wood © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

§ Perception is the active process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting people, objects, events, situations, and activities Gail Mooney/Masterfile Corporation Defining Perception © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Selection − external qualities that draw attention − the acuity of our senses − change or variation − our motives, needs, and expectations Image Source/Getty Images § Selection is influenced by © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy § People act in ways consistent with how they have learned to perceive themselves © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Organization § Prototypes § Stereotypes § Scripts Icon Sports Media 465/Icon Sports Media/Newscom § Personal Constructs © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Prototypes § Knowledge structures that define the best or most representative example of some category Who is your prototype for friend, teacher, or romantic partner? © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Personal Constructs § Bipolar mental yardsticks that allow us to position people and situations along dimensions of judgment intelligent—not intelligent responsible—not responsible kind—not kind attractive—not attractive © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Stereotypes (slide 1 of 2) § Predictive generalizations about people and situations © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Stereotypes Gary Crabbe/Enlightened Images/Alamy Stock Photo (slide 2 of 2) • What stereotypes do you have of the men in this photograph? • Can you identify the basis of your stereotype(s)? • What would change your stereotypes? © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Scripts § Guides to action based on what we and others are expected to do in specific situations - For example: You have a script for greeting casual acquaintances “Hey, how ya doing? ” “Fine, see ya around. ” © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Interpretation Camille Tokerud/Stone/Getty Images § The subjective process of explaining perceptions to assign meaning to them © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Attributions Cengage Learning § Explanations of why things happen and why people act as they do © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

The Self-Serving Bias § The tendency to construct attributions that serve our personal interests − Internal, stable, global attributions for success § Good results come from personal control − External, unstable, specific attributions for failures § Negative results are attributed to external influences © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Influences on Perception (slide 1 of 3) § Physiology − People differ in sensory abilities and physiologies § Culture − Beliefs, values, understandings, practices, and ways of interpreting experience that are shared by a number of people − Standpoint theory claims that communities within a culture have varying degrees of social status and privilege © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Influences on Perception (slide 2 of 3) § Social and Professional Roles − Some messages tell us what roles we are expected to fulfill, as well as the actual demands of those roles § doctor student teacher parent child friend © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Influences on Perception (slide 3 of 3) § Cognitive Abilities: How elaborately we think about situations and people − Cognitive complexity − Person-centered perception § Not the same as EMPATHY © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Enhancing Competence Cengage Learning (slide 1 of 2) © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Enhancing Competence (slide 2 of 2) § Recognize that all perceptions are subjective § Avoid mind reading § Check perceptions with others § Distinguish between facts and inferences § Monitor the self-serving bias © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Textbook Web. Links § 2. 1: Answers. com: Self-fulfilling Prophecy § 2. 2: Institute of General Semantics © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Websites § PBS Global Connections: The Middle East § Typical misperceptions and stereotypes Westerners hold about Islam and the Middle East, and vice versa § U. S. Census Bureau homepage © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.