What is Perception? Perception involves the way we view the world around us. It adds, meaning to information gathered via the five senses of touch, smell, hearing, vision and taste. Perception is the primary vehicle through which we come to understand our surroundings and ourselves.

Perception “ 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.

What Is Perception, and Why Is It Important? People’s behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself. The world as it is perceived is the world that is behaviorally important.

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

Attribution ,Stereotyping, Halo Effect, Projection Organizing Selecting Stimuli 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

Perceptual organization It is the process by which we group outside stimuli into recognizable and identifiable patterns and whole objects.

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

Figure and ground Figure and ground

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 -closure -proximity -similarity

The Vertical lines are both the same length.                           The center circles are both the same size.                                                

What is attribution theory? Attribution theory aids in perceptual interpretation by focusing on how people attempt to: Understand the causes of a certain event. Assess responsibility for the outcomes of the event. Evaluate the personal qualities of the people involved in the event.

Attribution Theory: Judging Others Our perception and judgment of others is significantly influenced by our assumptions of the other person’s internal state. When individuals observe behavior, they attempt to determine whether it is internally or externally caused. Internal causes are under that person’s control External causes are not – person forced to act in that way Causation judged through: Distinctiveness Consensus - Response is the same as others to same situation. Consistency - Responds in the same way over time.

Elements of Attribution Theory

Distinctiveness(person does not behave differently Consensus Do other person Behave in the Same manner? Consistency Does this person behave in this manner at this situation? Distictiveness Low Distinctiveness(person does not behave differently in different situations) High Distinctiveness(person behaves differently in different situation.) No Low Consensus Yes High Yes High Consistency No Low Internal Attribution External Attribution

Kelley’s Model External Attribution High consensus High distinctiveness Low consistency

Internal Attribution Low consensus Low distinctiveness High consistency

Errors and Biases in Attributions Fundamental Attribution Error The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others. In general, we tend to blame the person first, not the situation.

Errors and Biases in Attributions (cont’d) Self-Serving Bias The tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors. Thought: When student gets an “A” on an exam, they often say they studied hard. But when they don’t do well, how does the self serving bias come into play?

Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others Selective Perception People selectively interpret what they see on the basis of their interests, background, experience, and attitudes.

Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others Halo Effect Drawing a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic Contrast Effects Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that are affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics

Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others Projection Attributing one’s own characteristics to other people. We assume that others are similar to us. Stereotyping Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs.

Specific Applications in Organizations Employment Interview Perceptual biases of raters affect the accuracy of interviewers’ judgments of applicants. Performance Expectations Self-fulfilling prophecy (Pygmalion effect): If manager asks for high performance-----performance will be high or vice versa Expectations become reality Ethnic Profiling A form of stereotyping in which a group of individuals is singled out—typically on the basis of race or ethnicity—for intensive inquiry, scrutinizing, or investigation.

Performance Evaluations Appraisals are often the subjective (judgmental) perceptions of appraisers of another employee’s job performance.