Dr.
Vaneeta Aggarwal
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. 2
A process by which individuals organize and
interpret their sensory impressions in order to
give meaning to their environment.
What we perceive can be far different from
the reality
Perception is the process by which we
attach meaning to the world around us.
Our world consist of people, experiences
and objects that influences us.
1. Sensation 3. Organization
› An individual’s ability to › The process of placing
detect stimuli in the selected perceptual
immediate environment. stimuli into a framework .
2. Selection 4. Interpretation
› The process a person uses › The stage of the
to eliminate some of the perceptual process at
stimuli that have been which stimuli are
sensed and to retain others interpreted and given
for further processing. meaning.
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Perception is unique to every individual.
No two person view the world as exactly
same.
No one can perceive 100% of all the
things at all times.
Life is a process of selecting information/data
We are confronted with millions of pieces of stimuli each day (~1,500
advertisements alone)
Factors That Influence Our Selection
Nature
Location
Colour
Size
Contrast
Movement
Repetition
Novelty and Familiarity
Learning
Psychological needs
Age difference
Interest
Organization is the next stage in the
organisation.
In this stage mentally arrange stimuli
(information) so we can understand and
make sense out of stimuli.
What does Gestalt mean?
Gestalt , loosely translated into English, means “shape” or “form”
The main Gestalt Laws are:
Law of Proximity
Law of Similarity.
Law of Figure and Ground.
Law of Continuity
Law of Closure
Law of Simplicity
Elements
that are placed close to
each other will often be perceived as
one group.
Objects that look alike, with similar
components or attributes, are more likely to
be organised together.
Objects will be grouped as a whole if they are
co-linear, or follow a direction
In perception there is the tendency to
complete unfinished objects. We tend to
ignore gaps and complete contour lines.
Figures are seen as their simple elements
instead of complicated shapes.
This is the third stage in perception
process.
In this we attach meaning to the stimuli.
Our interpretations are subjective and
based on our values, need, beliefs,
experiences expectations, self concept
and others personal factors.
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.
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The mind likes consistency, simplicity, & balance. Any information
that could “disrupt the peace” is seen as dangerous. Ergo, the brain
tries to restore balance
Selective Exposure
› We attend to messages that are in accord with our already-held
attitudes and avoid dissonance from other ideas
Selective Retention
› We remember what is consistent with pre-existing attitudes and
interests
Selective Perception
› We mentally recast messages so that they are in line with our
beliefs and attitudes
Our behavior is based on our perception
of reality than reality itself.
So,world as perceived is the world that is
behaviorally important
Basically, the theory suggests that when we
observe an individual’s behavior, we attempt
to determine whether it was internally or
externally caused.
Distinctiveness: shows different
behaviors in different situations.
. Consensus: response is the
same as others to same
DETERMINANTS situation
Consistency: responds in the
same way over time
Errors or biases distort attributions
While judging behavior of other people we
underestimate the effect of external factors for
behavior and overestimate the influence of
internal factors (Fundamental attribution error)
Eg. Sales manager is more likely to attribute poor
performance of sales agents to their laziness
rather than the innovative product line launched
by the competitor.
SELF SERVING BIAS-
Individuals and companies have a
tendency to attribute their own success
to internal factors like ability or effort but
putting blame of failure on external
factors like luck etc.
Selective Perception
People selectively interpret what they see on the
basis of their interests, background, experience,
and attitudes.
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
Projection
Attributing one’s own characteristics to other
people.
Stereotyping
Judging someone on the basis of one’s
perception of the group to which that person
belongs
IMPORTANCE OF PERCEPTION
if the manager has good perception in
any department of the organization
the department team will have SAFE SOLU
TION with RISKY IDEAS.
to find innovative solutions for the problem.
to leverage creativity and motivate
the higher plateau of thinking.
With the help of perception, habits and
attitudes will get changed.
with the help of perception, we can find
solutions to the most difficult problems.
EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW
Perception can help the manager to recruit
the best fit.
Perceptual biases can affect accuracy of
interviewers’ judgments of applicants
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION:
Perception can help the manager to
make the most effective performance
appraisal of the employee.
Appraisals can be subjective
perceptions of performance.
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS:-
Perception can help the manager to
make the most effective judgment on
expectation.
The lower or higher performance of
employees reflects preconceived leader
expectations about employee
capabilities
Employee Effort
-
Perception can help the manager to make
the right judgement of the
employee's effort.
– Assessment of individual effort is a subjective
judgment subject to perceptual distortion and
bias.
Overconfidence Bias
Believing too much in our own decision competencies. Those
individuals whose intellectual and interpersonal abilities are
weakest are most likely to overestimate their performance and
ability.
Confirmation Bias
Using only the facts that support our decision. It represents specific
case of selective perception. We seek out information that reaffirms
our past choices, and we discount information that contradicts
them.
Availability Bias
Using information that is most readily at hand. Events that evoke
emotions, that have occurred more recently tend to be more
available in our memory. That’s why managers when doing annual
performance appraisals tend to give more weight to recent
employee behaviors than to behaviors of 6 or 9 months ago.
Escalation of Commitment
› Increasing commitment to a previous decision in spite of
negative information. Many an organization has suffered
large losses because a manager was determined to prove
his original decision was right by continuing to commit
resources to what was a lost cause from the beginning.
Randomness Error
› Trying to create meaning out of random events by falling
prey to a false sense of control or superstitions. It can be
deliberating when it affects daily judgments or biases major
decisions.
Hindsight Bias
› Falsely believing to have accurately predicted the outcome
of an event, after that outcome is actually known. It reduces
our ability from the past. It permits us to think that we are
better at making predictions than we really are and can
result in our being more confident about the accuracy of
future decisions than we have a right to be.
Focus on goals.
› Clear goals make decision making easier and help to eliminate
options inconsistent with your interests.
Look for information that disconfirms beliefs.
› Overtly considering ways we could be wrong challenges our
tendencies to think we’re smarter than we actually are.
Don’t try to create meaning out of random events.
› Don’t attempt to create meaning out of coincidence.
Increase your options.
› The number and diversity of alternatives generated increases the
chance of finding an outstanding one.
