“ WE DON’T SEE THINGS AS THEY
ARE, WE SEE THINGS AS WE ARE.”
Perception
“ The study of perception is concerned with identifying the process
through which we interpret and organize sensory information to
produce our conscious experience of objects and object relationship.”
“ 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.
Prepared by: Dr. Priya, Assistant Professor, IMS, University of Lucknow 2
The Perceptual Process
1. Sensation 3.Organization
◼ An individual’s ability to ◼ The process of placing
detect stimuli in the selected perceptual
immediate stimuli into a
environment. framework for
2. Selection “storage.”
◼ The process a person 4.Translation
uses to eliminate some ◼ The stage of the
of the stimuli that have perceptual process at
been sensed and to which stimuli are
retain others for further interpreted and given
processing. meaning.
Prepared by: Dr. Priya, Assistant Professor, IMS, University of Lucknow 3
Perceptual Process Selecting Stimuli
External factors : Nature,
Receiving Stimuli Location,Size,contrast,
(External & Internal) Movement,repetition,similarity
Internal factors : Learning,
needs,age,Interest,
Organizing
Interpreting Figure Background ,
Attribution ,Stereotyping, Perceptual Grouping
Halo Effect, Projection ( similarity, proximity,
closure, continuity)
Response
Covert: Attitudes ,
Motivation,
Feeling
Overt: Behavior
Prepared by: Dr. Priya, Assistant Professor, IMS, University of Lucknow 4
Factors Influencing Perception:
Factors in the perceiver
• Attitudes
• Motives
• Interests
• Experience
• Expectations
Factors in the situation
Perception
• Time
• Work Setting
• Social Setting
Factors in the Target
• Novelty
• Motion
• Sounds
• Size
• Background
• Proximity
• Similarity
Prepared by: Dr. Priya, Assistant Professor, IMS, University of Lucknow 5
Perceptual Organization
It is the process by which we group outside stimuli into recognizable
and identifiable patterns and whole objects.
Certain factors are considered to be important contributors on
assembling, organizing and categorizing information in the human
brain. These are
- Figure ground
- Perceptual grouping
Prepared by: Dr. Priya, Assistant Professor, IMS, University of Lucknow 6
Figure-Ground Illustration
Figure-ground differentiation- The tendency to distinguish
and focus on a stimulus that is classified as figure as
opposed to background.
Prepared by: Dr. Priya, Assistant Professor, IMS, University of Lucknow 7
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
Prepared by: Dr. Priya, Assistant Professor, IMS, University of Lucknow 8
Attribution Theory: Judging
others
➢ 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.
Prepared by: Dr. Priya, Assistant Professor, IMS, University of Lucknow 9
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 -Shows different behaviors in different
situations.
Consensus - Response is the same as others to same
situation.
Consistency - Responds in the same way over time.
Prepared by: Dr. Priya, Assistant Professor, IMS, University of Lucknow 10
Consistency
Distictiveness Consensus Does this person
Does this person Do other person behave
behave in Behave in the in this same
this manner Same manner? manner at other
in other situation times ?
No Yes
YES Low High Internal
Low Consensus Consistency Attributio
Distinctiveness
NO No
Yes Low External
High High Attribution
Distinctiveness Consistency
Consensus
Prepared by: Dr. Priya, Assistant Professor, IMS, University of Lucknow 11
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
◼ We blame people first, not the situation
Self-Serving Bias
◼ The tendency for individuals to attribute their
own successes to internal factors while putting
the blame for failures on external factors
◼ It is “our” success but “their” failure
Prepared by: Dr. Priya, Assistant Professor, IMS, University of Lucknow 12
Shortcuts in judging others
Selective Perception : People selectively interpret what they see
on the basis of their interests, background, experience and attitudes
Halo Effect :Drawing a general impressions about an individual on
the basis of a single characteristics.
Contrast Effect : Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that are
effected by comparisons with other people recently encountered
who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics.
Projection :The tendency to attribute one’s own characteristics to
other people.
Stereotyping :Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of
the group to which that persons belongs.
Prepared by: Dr. Priya, Assistant Professor, IMS, University of Lucknow 13
