1. Perception: What You See is What You Get
Chapter Summary
The Perception Process
Influences on Perception
Common Tendencies in Perception
Perception Checking
Empathy and Communication
The Pillow Method 1

2. The Perception Process
The Four Steps
Selection
Organization
Interpretation
Negotiation 2

3. The Perception Process
Selection
What attracts your attention?
Stimuli that are intense attract us
You are more likely to remember items that stand out
Tall or short people.
Items that excite your senses.
Unchanging people or things become less noticeable over time
If you’re running late, you’ll notice all the clocks around you 3

4. The Perception Process
Organization
After selecting information from the environment we
must organize it in some meaningful way
What do you see?
In this example there are only two ways to organize the impression
In reality there are many more
FIGURE 3.1
Page 85 4

5. The Perception Process
Organization
After selecting information from the environment we
must organize it in some meaningful way
In contrast to figure 3.1 how many impressions do you see here?
FIGURE 3.3
Page 86 5

6. The Perception Process
Organization
We classify people in the same way we did the examples
Appearance
Male or Female, Beautiful or Ugly
Social Roles
Student, Teacher, Attorney
Interaction Style
Friendly, Helpful, Mean 6

7. The Perception Process
Organization
Psychological Traits
Curious, Nervous, Insecure
Membership
Republican, American, Democrat
How you’ve classified someone will change the way you react to them in the future 7

8. The Perception Process
Organization
Stereotyping
After we’ve chosen an organizing scheme to classify people we use that scheme to classify similar groups
Exaggerated generalizations lead to stereotyping
After a stereotype is created we seek out isolated behavior to support these inaccurate beliefs
Decategorize those you stereotype 8

9. The Perception Process
Organization
Punctuation
How arguments are punctuated can lead to a variety of problems
FIGURE 3.4
Page 90 9

10. The Perception Process
Interpretation
Interpretation plays a role in every interpersonal act
Degree of involvement with the other person
We treat people differently when perusing a relationship
Past experience
Have you been in the situation before
Assumptions about human behavior 10

11. The Perception Process
Interpretation
Interpretation plays a role in every interpersonal act
Attitudes
The attitudes we hold shape the way we view others
Expectations
Anticipation shapes interpretation
Knowledge
Knowledge of a situation will change your interpretation of it 11

12. The Perception Process
Interpretation
Self-Concept
How you view yourself will alter your interpretation
When you’re feeling down the work looks much worse
Relational Satisfaction
Positive behavior may be viewed as negative depending on your current satisfaction in a relationship
It is possible for each section of the perception process to occur out of order 12

13. The Perception Process
Negotiation
Our personal worlds are described as narratives
Ask two children what they’re fighting about
Chances are you’ll get different narratives
When narratives coincide they are said to be shared
These narratives do not have to be true to be powerful
In some cases couples have a happy relationship simply because they share the narrative that they’ve always had one
Negotiating each narrative can be tricky 13

14. Influences on Perception
ABC News Video
Click on box to play video 14

15. Influences on Perception
Physiological Influences
The Senses
How each of our senses changes the way we interact and shapes our perceptions
How many times have you heard someone complain about the temperature and you thought it was just fine 15

16. Influences on Perception
Physiological Influences
Age
Experience changes the way one perceives the world
Biological factors also shape perception
Health
When you’re feeling sick your perception of the world changes
Fatigue
Just as being ill can have harmful affects on your relationship so can being sleepy 16

17. Influences on Perception
Physiological Influences
Hunger
People often get grumpy when they’re hungry
Several biological changes occur in the body
Biological Cycles
Your body changes constantly throughout your daily cycle
Change influences your perception positively and negatively
Psychological Challenges
Mental illness and disorder can dramatically change the way one interacts with and perceives the world 17

18. Influences on Perception
Cultural Differences
Cultures value different principles of communication
Collectivist v. Individualist Culture
Ethnocentrism
The attitude that one’s own culture is superior to others
Cultural differences can occur with in a single country
North vs. South
East vs. West 18

19. Influences on Perception
Social Roles
Gender Roles
Socially instructed ways men and women should act
Violations to these rules is seen as unusual and undesirable
Occupational Roles
Depends on level of experience
Can change instantly when new people are added to the group
Philip Zimbardo conducted the an experiment that popularized the theory of occupational roles
Prisoners and Guards (pg ) 19

20. Common Tendencies in Perception
How We Judge Ourselves
We judge ourselves more charitably than others
Even when situation are similar our tendency is to fault the other person rather than admit we also made the same mistake
He wasn’t listening
He flies off the handle
What did you expect from someone who curses
Egocentric tendencies cause us to rate ourselves more favorable than others 20

21. Common Tendencies in Perception
Others’ Negative Characteristics
We pay attention to others’ negative characteristics
To avoid bombarding our self-concept with doubt we tend to focus more harshly on the short comings of others
We are influenced by the obvious
Because we select stimuli that is most noticeable it is not surprising that obvious events tend to have the most impact
We assume that others are similar to us
Be careful when telling jokes and using slang 21

22. Common Tendencies in Perception
Perception Checking
Elements of Perceptions Checking
A description of the behavior you notices
At least two possible interpretations of the behavior
A request for clarification about how to interpret the behavior
Perception Checking Considerations
Completeness
Nonverbal Congruency
Cultural Rules
Face Saving
Can be a way to raise an issue without directly threatening 22

23. Common Tendencies in Perception
Empathy and Communication
Empathy
The ability to re-create another persons perspective or to experience the world from their point of view
Perspective Taking
The attempt to take on the viewpoint of another
Requires a suspension of judgment
Sympathy
You view the other person’s position from your point of view 23

24. Common Tendencies in Perception
The Pillow Method
The Pillow Method is a tool for building empathy
The Pillow Method consists of four sides or positions
FIGURE 3.5
The Pillow Method
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25. Perception: What You See is What You Get
Chapter Summary
The Perception Process
Influences on Perception
Common Tendencies in Perception
Perception Checking
Empathy and Communication
The Pillow Method 25