CNPS Week 4

Main Points (4)

1. Perception affects analysis

2. Cultural psychology affects behaviour and perception

3. The Danger of Stereotyping

4. Cultural Assessment Matrix

Perception

the process of taking raw data from senses and interpreting it to provide order and meaning to the environment

• perception is not neutral, it is filtered through factors

Factors that influence perception (3)

1. Situation: such as culture

2. Perceiver: such as personality

3. Target (object, people or event): such as familiarity

• thus we do not perceive raw reality as it is filtered through these factors

Bruner’s model of the perceptual process

• explains how when a perceiver encounters an unfamiliar target, they look to informational cues contained in the data and the situation surrounding it

• the perceiver will need additional info (cues) based on perceptions of the target to resolve any ambiguity

how does the perceiver select additional info (cues) based on perceptions of target to resolve ambiguities

• SELECTIVITY:

  • we are constantly bombarded with cues through our senses, and cannot possibly take in all of it

  • we take in selected cues and tend to give these more weight

• CONSTANCY:

  • tendency that once we form a perception of a target, we tend to perceive it the same way over time/across situations

  • so if these perceptions stick, how do we fix an old perception?

• CONSISTENCY:

  • tendency to select, ignore and distort cues to fit together to form a homogeneous image of the target

    • thus we may actively ignore cues that go against the perception we have already constructed

→ thus we may move from just perceiving something to making faulty assumptions about it

Biases in perception (6)

1. Primary effect: relying too much on initial cues or impressions (think judging a book by its cover)

2. Recency effect: relying too much on most recent cues or last impressions, ignoring things that happened before

3. Central traits/Halo effect: relying too much on certain characteristics of the target (ex. if they are charismatic, you assume their other traits must be positive)

4. Implicit personality theories: relying on known traits, influencing your perception of their unknown traits. relies on our assumption that certain characteristics happen to go together (ex. hardworking people are also honest, even if you have no evidence for their honesty)

5. Projection: to attribute your own thoughts and feelings to others

6. Pygmalion Effect:  self-fulfilling prophecy → expectations are not only filtering how we perceive reality, but creating it. your belief about someone causes you to treat them a certain way, confirming your original belief even if it was originally wrong. feedback loop!

What do biases in perception lead to?

1. STEREOTYPING: to generalize about people in a social category

2. Self-serving bias: the tendency to take credit for successful outcomes and to deny responsibility for failures

3. Actor-observer effect: the tendency for actors and observers to view the causes of the actor’s behaviour differently (ex. if actor falls, they may blame uneven floor, but observer may blame this on clumsiness). generally actor blames situation, observer blames person.

Qualitative vs Quantitative Evidence

Quantitative

• associated with traditional scientific method: measuring/gathering data in an organized and more objective manner

  • typically Experimental, based on statistics and other scientific methods

• generalizing findings to generally fit other individuals/populations

• but if perception shapes reality, does this method work?

Qualitative

• more subjective, but still systematic (like quantitative research)

• this method is preferred when the study is Phenomenological (perceived reality as it is perceived to people involved)

• information may also come from the researcher’s observations of a smaller group

• tied to idea that reality is based on perceptions, and can thus vary from person to person, often changing over time

Culture

defined as the customs and beliefs, art, way of life and social organization of a particular country or group

• shared way of seeing/doing things

• turns personal filtering into group level filtering (for how this is done, see amplifying stereotypes flashcard)

example of culture

Arlie Hochschild uses the analogy of a lineup to explain the appeal of right-wing populism to various American social groups

• explaining how diverse feelings of being stuck in a line could align people towards a shared cause

Amplify Stereotyping (similar to the spread of false information) (9)

1. Uphold public persona

2. Confirmation bias: group looks for evidence that fits their existing stereotypes, ignore/dismiss things that attack these stereotypes

3. False appeal to authority

4. Strawman argument

5. Glittering generalities and name-calling

6. Dunning-Kruger effect: people who know the least about another country act the most confidence → thus spreading sterotypes more easily

7. Appeal to fear and victimhood

8. Social in-group conformity

9. Direct anger toward an out-group: defining who “we” are by distinguishing who “they” are

Physical and Psychological (moral and intellectual) Planes (2)

Micro

·       Physical component (individual’s behaviours)

·       Moral component (individual’s attitude)

·       Intellectual (individual Lens and perceptions)

→ at the individual level

Macro

·       Physical component (society’s Laws and Customs)

·       Moral component (society’s shared Cultural Identity)

·       Intellectual (Cultural Lens through which society interprets world)

→ at societal level

Cultural Identity can be defined as… (6)

1. Society (individual and group)

2. Power (hierarchical and egalitarian)

3. Time (linear and cyclical)

4. Environment (internal control and external control)

5. Communication (implicit and explicit)

6. Justice (rules and relationships)

→ how we compare cultures. how do they view power, how do they view justice, etc

So how do we correct for biases?

we need formal tools that force analyst to look at data properly rather than relying on their assumptions

→ thus cultural assessment matrices

Cultural Assessment Matrices (2)

1. PMESII: Political, Military, Economic, Social, Information, and Infrastructure.

• forces us to systematically look at each major system within a society. consider political, military, economic, social landscape, how information flows. states of infrastructure. this helps ensure we do not overlook a critical element. thus focused on harder/more measurable sectors.

• system focused

2. ASCOPE: Areas, Structures, Capabilities, Organizations, People, and Events

• forces us to look at specific geographic areas, key structures (ex. hospitals), capabilities, organizations, key people, local events that shape actions

• thus this one focuses on the fact that reality is shaped by perception by making us analyze the perception of people who matter in that context.

• human focused

→ using these tools allows analyst to produce more reliable findings than just relying on their biases