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Chapter 2 Notes

2.1 Perception Process

  • Perception = the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information; filtered by prior experiences, influencing responses.

  • Process flow: select stimuli
    \rightarrow
    filter
    \rightarrow
    organize
    \rightarrow
    interpret.

  • Selecting information: the first part of the perception process, in which we focus our attention on certain incoming sensory information; focus on salient information.

    • Salience = the degree to which something attracts our attention in a particular context. Factors: visually/aurally stimulating items, items meeting needs/interests, and expectations.

  • Organizing information: the second part of the perception process, in which we sort and categorize information that we perceive based on innate and learned cognitive patterns.

    • Proximity: things close together grouped.

    • Similarity: similar things grouped.

    • Difference: unique things stand out.

    • These simplify info but can lead to biases.

  • Punctuation = the structuring of information into a timeline to determine the cause (stimulus) and effect (response) of our communication interactions; helps identify conflict origins. Important for perception checking.

  • Interpreting information: the third part of the perception process, in which we assign meaning to our experiences using mental structures known as schemata.

    • Schemata = databases of stored, related information that we use to interpret new experiences; act as lenses based on prior knowledge; evolve with cognitive complexity.

2.2 Perceiving Others

  • Attribution and interpretation:

    • Internal attributions: connecting the cause of behaviors to personal aspects, such as personality traits.

    • External attributions: connecting the cause of behaviors to situational factors.

    • Fundamental attribution error: our tendency to explain others’ behaviors using internal rather than external attributions.

    • Self-serving bias: a perceptual error through which we attribute the cause of our successes to internal personal factors while attributing our failures to external factors beyond our control.

  • Impressions and interpretation:

    • Primacy effect: the tendency to place more value on the first information we receive about a person.

    • Recency effect: the tendency to place more weight on the most recent impression we have of a person’s communication, over earlier impressions.

    • Halo effect: when initial positive perception leads us to view later interactions as positive.

    • Horn effect: when initial negative perceptions lead us to view later interactions as negative.

  • Physical and environmental influences: Appearance, authority cues, attractiveness, and surroundings shape perceptions.

  • Culture, personality, and perception: Culture shapes schemata; stereotypes and prejudice arise from rigid schemata.

    • Assumed similarity: our tendency to perceive others as similar to us.

    • Personality: a person’s general way of thinking, feeling, and behaving, based on underlying motivations and impulses.

    • Implicit personality theories: generalizing the traits we can perceive to a person’s overall personality.

    • The Big Five personality traits: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness.

    • Stereotypes: sets of beliefs that we develop about groups, which we then apply to individuals from that group.

    • Prejudice: negative feelings or attitudes toward people based on their identity or identities.

    • Gender differences are largely due to socialization.

2.3 Perceiving and Presenting Self

  • Self-concept = the overall idea of who a person thinks he or she is; context-sensitive.

    • Looking-glass self: explains the way we see ourselves reflected in other people’s reactions to us, then forming our self-concept based on how we believe other people see us.

    • Social comparison theory: the theory that we describe and evaluate ourselves in terms of how we compare to other people; describes/evaluates ourselves relative to reference groups.

  • Self-esteem = judgments and evaluations we make about our self-concept.

  • Self-efficacy = judgments people make about their ability to perform a task within a specific context.

  • Self-discrepancy theory: the theory that people have beliefs about and expectations for their actual and potential selves that do not always match up with what they actually experience; actual vs. ideal vs. ought selves; discrepancies cause emotional/behavioral changes.

    • Actual self: the attributes that you or someone else believes you actually possess.

    • Ideal self: the attributes that you or someone else would like you to possess.

    • Ought self: consists of the attributes you or someone else believes you should possess.

  • Influences on self-perception: Socialization (family, culture, media) and self-enhancement bias.

    • Self-enhancement bias: the tendency to emphasize our desirable qualities relative to other people.

  • Self-presentation = the process of strategically concealing or revealing personal information to influence others’ perceptions.

    • Prosocial self-presentation: behaviors that present a person as a role model and make a person more likable and attractive; aims to benefit others.

    • Self-serving self-presentation: behaviors that present a person as highly skilled, willing to challenge others, someone not to be messed with; aims to benefit the self; can damage authenticity.

    • Online self-presentation: managing digital footprint.

2.4 Improving Perception

  • Improving self-perception: Be mindful of rigid schemata, evaluate socializing forces, intervene in self-fulfilling prophecies, build supportive networks, monitor negative thinking.

    • Self-fulfilling prophecies: thought and action patterns in which a person’s false belief triggers a behavior that makes the initial false belief actually or seemingly come true.

  • Improving perception of others: Develop empathetic listening, challenge stereotypes, self-reflect on biases.

  • Perception checking: a strategy to help us monitor our reactions to and perceptions about people and communication; 3 steps to improve accuracy and reduce misperception.

    1. Describe observed behavior without judgment.

    2. Consider multiple interpretations.

    3. Verify by asking for the other person’s perspective, noting punctuation.

  • Key idea: Perception

Question 1:
_ is the overall idea of who a person think they are.
Question 1 options:
1) self-esteem
2) self-view
3) self-concept
4) self-awareness
Correct Answer: 3) self-concept

Question 2:
We see ourselves reflected in the way others interact and communicate with us. This is called _.
Question 2 options:
1) self-esteem
2) self-concept
3) looking glass self
4) self-awareness
Correct Answer: 3) looking glass self

Question 3:
In what stage of the perception process do people focus their attention on specific information?
Question 3 options:
1) selecting
2) organizing
3) interpreting
4) expecting
Correct Answer: 1) selecting

Question 4:
In what stage of the perception process do people sort information based on proximity, similarity, and differences?
Question 4 options:
1) selecting
2) organizing
3) interpreting
4) expecting
Correct Answer: 2) organizing

Question 5:
In what stage of the perception process do people make sense of the information they are perceiving?
Question 5 options:
1) selecting
2) organizing
3) interpreting
4) expecting
Correct Answer: 3) interpreting

Question 6:
A person who shows information that they want to share and holds back other information is taking part in what process?
Question 6 options:
1) self-presentation
2) self-concept
3) self-esteem
4) self-awareness
Correct Answer: 1) self-presentation

Question 7:
When Jane looks at her friend and evaluates herself, she is taking part in _.
Question 7 options:
1) self-reflection
2) social comparison
3) self-presentation
4) social reflection
Correct Answer: 2) social comparison

Question 8:
While Joan had a great first impression of Callie, the conversation ended in an argument. Joan has a bad view of Callie. This is an example of _.
Question 8 options:
1) halo effect
2) primacy effect
3) recency effect
4) horn effect
Correct Answer: 3) recency effect

Question 9:
Stephen failed his exam and blamed it on the teacher. What is Stephen exhibiting?
Question 9 options:
1) fundamental attribution error
2) self-serving bias
3) internal attribution
4) personal attribution
Correct Answer: 2) self-serving bias

Question 10:
Scottie told himself he would do poorly on an exam. That led him to not study because he told himself that he was going to do poorly, no matter what. Scottie failed his exam. This is an example of _.
Question 10 options:
1) self-fulfilling prophecy
2) self-efficacy
3) social forces
4) self-doubt
**Correct Answer: 1) self-fulfilling