PERCEPTION

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

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, you will be able to understand Factors influencing perception Attribution theory Specific applications in organization 3

Perception You can see a white vase as figure against a black background, or two black faces in profile on a white background 2 2

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. “ A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.

The Perceptual Process Sensation An individual’s ability to detect stimuli in the immediate environment. Selection The process a person uses to eliminate some of the stimuli that have been sensed and to retain others for further processing. Organization The process of placing selected perceptual stimuli into a framework for “storage.” Translation The stage of the perceptual process at which stimuli are interpreted and given meaning.

External factors : Nature, Selecting Stimuli External factors : Nature, Location,Size,contrast, Movement,repetition,similarity Internal factors : Learning, needs,age,Interest, Perceptual Process Receiving Stimuli (External & Internal) Interpreting Attribution ,Stereotyping, Halo Effect, Projection Organizing Figure Background , Perceptual Grouping ( similarity, proximity, closure, continuity) Response Covert: Attitudes , Motivation, Feeling Overt: Behavior

Factors influencing perception A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors can reside in the perceiver, in the object or target being perceived or in the context of the situation in which the perception is made. 11

FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION The perception of a individual depends on three factors, namely Perceiver-These are the most common characteristics that affect the perception of an individual like attitudes, motives, interests, past experiences and expectations. Target-Characteristics of the perceiver also affect what is being perceived. These characteristics include attractiveness, gregariousness (sociability) and tendency to group similar things together. Situation-The situation in which objects or events are seen by individuals also affect their attention. This includes time, heat or light 12

Individual Perception Factors influencing Perception Factors in the perceiver Attitudes Motives Interests Experience Expectations Factors in the situation Time Work Setting Social Setting Individual Perception Factors in the Target Novelty Motion Sounds Size Background Proximity Similarity 13

Perceptual organization It is the process by which we group outside stimuli into recognizable and identifiable patterns and whole objects. Certain factors are considered to be important contributors on assembling, organizing and categorizing information in the human brain. These are Figure ground Perceptual grouping

Figure-Ground Illustration Field-ground differentiation The tendency to distinguish and focus on a stimulus that is classified as figure as opposed to background.

Person Perception: Making Judgments About Others 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 -context -proximity -similarity Person Perception: Making Judgments About Others

SOME CHALLENGES MAKE BONDS STRONGER Every family witnesses challenging times. It has recently faced a situation both traumatic & tragic. But we are overwhelmed by the support from all our associates & partners, & from you, our customers. It has strengthened our determination to rise above all challenges and look ahead. With utmost sincerity, we thank you all for your patience. And faith. We are working day & night to live up to the enormous trust you have placed in us for three decades. We’ll do everything to strengthen it further. That’s a promise. WHO IS THIS COMPANY & WHAT DOES IT WANT TO PERCEIVE

Unique interpretation Seeing things differently Features Sensory experience Subjective Filter Unique interpretation Seeing things differently Basis of human behaviour

The Perceptual Process Perception is the process of interpreting and understanding one’s environment. It is a complex psychological process, but it can be boiled down to four steps: observation, selection, organization and interpretation. First we observe information (sensory data) from the environment through our senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. Next, our mind screens the data and will select only the items we will process further. Finally, we organize the selected data into meaningful patterns for interpretation and response. The key elements in the perceptual process are selection and organization.

External Factors influencing Perception: Perception is influenced by the characteristics of the perceived object, event or person. These include: Size Intensity Contrast Repetition Motion Novelty and Familiarity

Internal factors influencing Perception: Several characteristics of the perceiver also can influence the selection of sensory data. Some of the more important internal factors include: Personality Personal moods Experience Values and beliefs Expectations Learning Motivation

Perceptual Organisation Once people have selected the sensory data to be perceived, they begin grouping the data into recognizable patterns. Perceptual organization is the process by which people categorize stimuli according to their frame of reference, based on their past learning and experiences. While organizing the incoming information into a meaningful whole, people generally depend on the following principles: Perceptual Grouping: People or things can be grouped on the basis of similarity or proximity. The greater the similarity in the events, the greater is the probability that we tend to perceive them as a group. Further, objects that have close proximity are also grouped under one head, howsoever, they are unrelated. For instance, if in a department two people suddenly resign, then people tend to perceive that their departures were closely related; whereas in reality it might not be so. One might have got a foreign assignment; other might be starting his own business. Closure Simplification Continuity Proximity Similarity

Perceptual Constancy: Perceptual constancy denotes the tendency of animals and humans to see familiar objects as having standard shape, size, colour, or location regardless of changes in the angle of perspective, distance or lighting. Perceptual constancy is responsible for the ability to identify objects under various conditions, which seem to be “taken into account” during a process of mental reconstitution of the known image. Perceptual Context: The perception of an object or event depends in part on the context (surrounding conditions). Context gives meaning and value to stimuli, objects, events and situations. In an organisation, a pat on the back, an appreciative gesture, a raised eyebrow, etc will be meaningless unless they are viewed against a contextual background. Perceptual Interpretation: This is the third step in perception. Once we select and organize perceptions, we draw further conclusions about their meaning through interpretation. The perceived world would look meaningless without interpretation.

Perceptual Distortions Errors in perceptual judgement are called perceptual distortions. As pointed out earlier, we cannot assimilate all that we observe and hence, we try to speed-read others, based on our interests, background, experience and attitudes. Such pieces of selective perception often put us in a spot because we only see what we want to see. Apart from selective perception, there are other reasons which force us to draw unwarranted conclusions from foggy situations. Barriers to Perceptual Accuracy Stereotyping Halo effect Projection Expectancy Effects Primacy Effect: First impressions Recency Effect Perceptual Defense Attribution

ATTRIBUTION THEORY It was proposed by Kelly in 1972. It suggests that when we observe an individual’s behavior, we try to find whether it was caused internally or externally. Internally caused behaviors are under the personal control of an individual whereas externally caused behavior is due to some outside causes or situation. When we begin to explain why things have happened in a certain way, we may submit, “the devil made me do it” (external attribution. Attributing the outcome to an outside agent or force) or we may admit “I am guilty, grant me forgiveness” (internal attribution, claiming responsibility for the event). The three factors in this regard are Distinctiveness Consensus Consistency 38

Distinctiveness is whether an individual displays different behaviors in different situations. The behaviors are observed. If the behavior is unusual, it is due to an external factor. If it is usual, it is internal. Consensus occurs, if, everyone responds in the same way to a particular situation. Consistency is the regularity in a person’s actions. Highly consistent behavior is due to internal causes.

Attribution Theory When individuals observe behavior, they attempt to determine whether it is internally or externally caused. Attribution of cause observation Interpretation H External Distictinctiveness L Internal H External Individual behavior Consensus L Internal H Internal Consistency L External H –high L- Low

Consensus Consistency Distictiveness Do other person Behave in the Same manner? Consistency Does this person behave in this same manner at other times ? Distictiveness Does this person behave in this manner in other situation YES Low Distinctiveness NO High No Low Consensus Yes High Yes High Consistency No Low Internal Attribution External Attribution

SHORTCUTS IN JUDGING OTHERS Individuals use short cuts to judge others. Understanding these short cuts help to recognize when they can cause significant misrepresentation. Selective perception Any characteristic that makes a person, object or event separate from others has a better chance of being perceived. An individual cannot take in everything that is seen. Selectivity is judging others quickly but there is a risk of misjudgment. 42

Halo Effect Halo effect (Murphy & Anhalt, 1992) is judging a person on the basis of single characteristic. For example, a student may judge a lecturer on the basis of only one characteristic i.e. his enthusiasm and not considering any other factor. This is known as Halo effect. Contrast Effects Individuals do not evaluate a person in separation. Their reactions to one person are affected by other persons they have recently met. This is known as contrast effect. For example, in an interview a candidate’s evaluation may depend on his or her place in the interview schedule.

Projection It is the tendency of individuals to attribute one’s own characteristics to other people. It misrepresents their perceptions about others. Stereotyping It is the tendency to judge somebody on the basis of the group to which he or she belongs. This type of judgment is sometimes inaccurate. In organizations stereotypes are based on gender, age, race, ethnicity, etc.

How to develop Perceptual Skills? Attribution Errors Research evidence suggests that when we made judgments about the behaviour of other people, we tend to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal or personal factors. This is called the fundamental attribution error (the tendency to attribute the behaviour of other people more to internal than to external factors) this partly explains why a sales manager is prone to attribute the poor performance of his salesman to laziness rather than the new product line introduced by a competitor. How to develop Perceptual Skills? Though there are no set formulas to develop the perceptual abilities, some guidelines can definitely help promote the skills of the perceiver. Avoid perceptual distortion Make accurate self-perception Put yourself in another person’s place Create a good impression about yourself

Perception and Individual Decision-making Decision-making is an important part of management process. It covers every part of an enterprise. Characteristics of Decision-making Goal-oriented Alternatives Analytical-intellectual Dynamic process Pervasive function Continuous activity Commitment of time, effort and money Human and social process Integral part of planning

SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS IN ORGANIZATIONS 1) Employment Interview Evidences show that interviewers make perceptual judgments while interviewing candidates. These judgments are not fully accurate. Different interviewers see different things in the same candidate. Interviewers get an impression about the candidate in the first four or five minutes and rarely change their view after that. 47

2) Performance Expectations Individuals try to support their perceptions of reality, even when they are not appropriate. A good example of this is self-fulfilling prophecy. It is the tendency for someone’s expectations about another to cause that person to behave in a manner consistent with those expectations (Wilkins, 1973). Self fulfilling prophecy is of two types Pygmalion Effect: It is positive example of self-fulfilling prophecy. In this people who have high expectations from others improve their performance. Golem Effect: It is negative example of self-fulfilling prophecy. In this people who have low expectations from others lower their performance. 48

Performance Evaluation An employee’s performance appraisal depends on the perceptual process. Appraisals can be both - objective and subjective. The perception of an evaluator about the characteristics or behavior of the employees, affect the result of the appraisal Employee Effort An individual’s future in the organization does not only depend on his performance. The evaluation of an individual’s effort is a subjective judgment which can be biased. 49

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