Perception

Nature and Importance of Perception

• Cognitive process involves the ways in which people process information.

• People’s individual differences and uniqueness are largely the result of the cognitive process.

• Perception is an important process in understanding OB.

DEFINITION

• Perception is a process/ by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions/ in order to give meaning to their environment.

• It is a unique interpretation of the situation not an exact recording of it.

External environmentSensory Stimulation

Physical Environment• Office• Factory Floor• Climate• etc.

Sociocultural Environment• Management styles• Management Values.

Consequences(e.g. reinforcement/

Punishment or some org. outcome)

Consequences(e.g. reinforcement/

Punishment or some org. outcome)

Behavior(e.g. overt such as

rushing off orcovert such as

an attitude)

Behavior(e.g. overt such as

rushing off orcovert such as

an attitude)

FeedbackFor clarifications

(e.g. kinesthetic orPsychological)

FeedbackFor clarifications

(e.g. kinesthetic orPsychological)

InterpretationOf stimulus (e.g.

Motivation, learningand personality)

InterpretationOf stimulus (e.g.

Motivation, learningand personality)

Registrationof stimulus (e.g.

Sensory and neural mechanisms)

Registrationof stimulus (e.g.

Sensory and neural mechanisms)

ConfrontationOf specific

Stimulus (e.g.Supervisor or new

Procedure)

ConfrontationOf specific

Stimulus (e.g.Supervisor or new

Procedure)

STIMULUS OR SITUATIONSTIMULUS OR SITUATION PERSONPERSON

PERCEPTUAL SELECTIVITY• Numerous stimuli are constantly confronting

everyone. The principles of perceptual selectivity explain how and why people select only a very few stimuli at a given time.

The principles are • External Attention Factors Intensity Size Contrast

TURNOFF THE

THE ENGINE

• Internal Set Factors

Learned aspect of perceptual set

Motivation

Personality

PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION

• Once the information from the situation is received because of perceptual organization the person will perceive organized patterns of stimuli and identifiable whole objects.

• The person’s perceptual process organizes the incoming information into a meaningful whole.

Factors Influencing Perception:

1.) Perceiver

2.) Target

3.) Situation

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE PERCEPTION

Factors in thesituation:•Time•Work setting• social setting

Factors in thesituation:•Time•Work setting• social setting

Factors in the target:NoveltyMotionSoundsSizeBackgroundProximitySimilarity

Factors in the target:NoveltyMotionSoundsSizeBackgroundProximitySimilarity

Factors in the perceiver:•Attitudes•Motives.•Interests•Experience•Expectation

Factors in the perceiver:•Attitudes•Motives.•Interests•Experience•Expectation

PerceptionPerception

Person Perception:

Making Judgments About Others

Shortcuts in Judging Others:

1.) Selective Perception

2.) Halo Effect

3.) Contrast Effects

4.) Projection

5.) Stereotyping

Selective PerceptionDescription• We will tend to perceive things according to our beliefs more than as they

really are, and react accordingly.• This is how placebos work. We will also ‘become’ drunk when we drink

what we believe is alcohol.

Research• Wilson and Abrams (1977) found that people’s heart rate changed in the

same way as when drunk when talking to an attractive member of the opposite sex after taking what they had been told was alcohol (but was not).

Example• Any book which is published will have been read possibly hundreds of

times, including by professional proof readers. And yet grammatical and other errors still get into print. Why? Because the mind is very kind and corrects the errors that our eyes see.

Halo Effect

Description• When we consider a person good (or bad) in one category, we are likely

to make a similar evaluation in other categories.• It is as if we cannot easily separate categories. It may also be connected

with dissonance avoidance, as making them good at one thing and bad at another would make an overall evaluation (which we do anyway) difficult.

Research

Edward Thorndike found, in the 1920s, that when army officers were asked to rate their charges in terms of intelligence, physique, leadership and character, there was a high cross-correlation.

Example• Just because I dress like a rock star, it does not mean I can sing, dance or

play the guitar (come to think of it, the same is true of some real rock stars!).

Contrast Effect

Principle• We notice difference between things, not absolute measures.

Perceptual contrast• Put your left hand in a bowl of cold water and your right in

hot water. Leave them there for a while, then plunge both together into a bowl of lukewarm water. Surprise! The left feels hot whilst the right will feel cold. 

• This is the principle of Perceptual Contrast by which our senses work. Put light next to dark and it seems lighter. A stale smell will seem worse after a sweet smell. The same effect also applies to more our complex cognitive constructions.

Projection

Description• When a person has uncomfortable thoughts or feelings,

they may project these onto other people, assigning the thoughts or feelings that they need to repress to a convenient alternative target.

Example• I do not like another person. But I have a value that says I should like

everyone. So I project onto them that they do not like me. This allows me to avoid them and also to handle my own feelings of dislike.

• An unfaithful husband suspects his wife of infidelity.• A woman who is attracted to a fellow worker accuses the person of

sexual advances.

Stereotypes

Description• Stereotypes are generalizations about a group of people whereby

we attribute a defined set of characteristics to this group. These classifications can be positive or negative, such as when various nationalities are stereotyped as friendly or unfriendly.

• It is easier to create stereotypes when there is a clearly visible and consistent attribute that can easily be recognized. This is why people of color, police and women are so easily stereotyped.

Example• Stereotyping goes way beyond race and gender. Consider

conversations you have had about people from the next town, another department in your company, supporters of other football teams, and so on.  

Specific Applications in Organizations:

1.) Employment Interview

2.) Performance Expectations (Self Fulfilling Prophecy)

3.) Performance Evaluation

4.) Employee Effort

Thank You