COMMUNICATION

AND
PERCEPTION
 Perception
◦ Perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and
interpreting information
◦ Perception refers to a sense-making procedure where we
attempt to understand our environment so we can respond to
it appropriately.
◦ Stimuli/information passes through perceptual filters, are
organized into structures and patterns, and then interpreted
based on previous experiences
◦ We filter, organize and make meaning of stimuli coming
through our perceptual filters into our social realties
• Perception is largely a
cognition and psychology
process
• How we perceive people and
objects affect our
communication

The Perception Process

Perception is composed of three
processes: selection, organization,
and interpretation.
◦
Perception
“No one should assume that what he or she perceives is the
same as what others perceive.”
Example
◦ A group of students went out for coffee after research methods
class and found themselves sharing impressions of the instructor
◦ What could be possible impressions (kind, warm, okey but hard
to approach, funny and easy to work with, too serious, looks
unapproachable)
◦ Our perceptions of others strongly influence how we respond to
and communicate about them (think about students who says
the Prof looks hard, unapproachable, too serious)
Selection-selecting information
◦ We take in information through our five senses
◦ Our perceptual field(world around) has so many stimuli
◦ It is impossible for our brain to process and make sense of all the
stimuli around us
◦ Selection is focusing attention on certain incoming sensory
information (pay attention)
◦ Mention all possible stimuli (smell, sounds, new shoes, phones,
lecture, body feeling)
◦ How do you decide what to select and what to leave out?
Selection-selecting information
◦ We pay attention (consciously or unconsciously) to a small
range of sensory information and available and ignore
the rest.
◦ This process is called selective attention
◦ We tend to pay attention to information that is salient.
◦ Salience is the degree to which something attracts our
attention in a particular context.
◦ For example, a woman's complexion may become salient
to a man who is looking a woman to date (ignore the rest)
 Selection-selecting information
◦ The degree of salience depends on three features (factors)
✓Things that are visually or aurally stimulating
✓Things that meet our needs and interests
✓Expectations affect what we find salient
Example
◦ If you attended a big social event, what is likely to capture your
attention(focus) on people, because you cannot focus on everyone
✓Aspects of your identity(e.g race, tribe)
✓Features of the persona (e.g some dressed different from the rest)
✓Your goals(like for a potential partner, pay attention to men or women
in your range)
 Selection-selecting information
◦ The degree of salience depends on three features (factors)
✓Things that are visually or aurally stimulating
✓Things that meet our needs and interests
✓Expectations affect what we find salient
Example
◦ If you attended a big social event, what is likely to capture your
attention(focus) on people, because you cannot focus on everyone
✓Aspects of your identity(e.g race, tribe)
✓Features of the persona (e.g some dressed different from the rest)
✓Your goals(like for a potential partner, pay attention to men or women
in your range)
 Selection-selecting information
◦ Researchers have also found that people pay attention
to and remember information based on when it is heard
and whether it is positive or negative
◦ Opinion may be influenced by information we learn first,
called the primary effect or most recently recieved,
which is referred to as the recency effect
◦ Think of the first impression in a interview, date, meeting
business partner etc
Organization-organizing information
◦ Sorting and categorizing information that we have received
based on innate and learned cognitive patterns
◦ We need to recognize what the stimuli represents
◦ We must therefore organize the information into a
recognizable picture/pattern that has meaning
◦ Example: Assume you are awaked by a loud noise in the
middle of night, you will definitely attend to that nose, but
you want be able to make sense of the sound in order to
respond (gun, thunder, house break,earthquake, tree fall
etc)
Organization-organizing information
◦ There are two primary cognitive principles that help
people to organize and respond to their perceptions
➢Cognitive representation
➢Categorization
◦ Cognitive representation is the human ability to form
mental models or cognitive maps of the world we live in
◦ We create these maps and refer them later when
circumstances call for them
Organization-organizing information
◦ For example, people know a fire alarm communicates
danger-you respond to alarm because you have a
cognitive map for alarms
◦ Schemas are cognitive structures that help us organize
information (think about watching pornography)
◦ Schemas are composed of preconceived ideas and
frameworks that represents aspects of the world
◦ Example; write all what you know about a CAT/Dog (it is
possible for someone to refer to a CAT as another animal?)
◦ Think about watching pornography (schemas)
Organization-organizing information
◦ Prototypes: communication behavior is strongly
influenced by idealized maps called prototypes.
◦ A prototype is the most representative example of a
person or concept
◦ Example: what is your prototypical ideal of a professor,
beautiful woman, tout, nurse, doctor, woman, man,
CEO, VC
◦ We also possess prototypes for “ideal” best friends,
romantic partners, and family members
Organization-organizing information
◦ We respond/communicate to people depending on how
we perceive they conform to our prototype
◦ Example: How does a presidential candidate appear is
likely to make one win an election, according to research
(e.g money, body size, voice, tone(soft,hard)
◦ Prototypes partly exits because of media portrayals
◦ An interpersonal script is a fixed sequence of events that
functions as a guide or template for communication or
behavior e.g procedure of receiving holy communion
Organization-organizing information
◦ Script: an interpersonal script is a fixed sequence of events
that functions as a guide or template for communication or
behavior e.g procedure of receiving holy communion
◦ We develop scripts for activities we engage in frequently-
routine
◦ Most people have a script for how to meet a new person.
◦ Do lectures have a script of meeting new students?
◦ Do you have a script of meeting new students/friends?
Organization-organizing information
◦ Categorization: This is the type cognitive process we use to
organize information is categorization.
◦ This is a cognitive process used to organize information by
placing it into larger groupings of information.
◦ Forming and using categories allows us to understand and
store information and makes us more efficient
communicators
◦ Example: you might categorize individuals based on your
perception-smart, interesting, dull, boring, strict
Organization-organizing information
◦ Note: If you reduce people to categories you may
communicate with them as if they don't possess other
characteristics
◦ In an organization setting you may categorize workers
as dull, boring, fun, interesting, traitor, supportive, lazy
etc
◦ Labels: when people categorize others, they typically
also assign them a label (Deviant, GenZs, LGBTQ+,
Mungiki, Kamagira, Murima/Kirima police labels??)
Organization-organizing information
◦ Labelling is risky, dangerous and has negative
outcomes if we view people through the lens of the
label (Muslims are labelled as tourists)
◦ The label also influences our expectations, evaluations,
and responses to them.
◦ Labeling can cause problems even when the labels are
positive
◦ How are Africans labelled??
Organization-organizing information
◦ Labeling is related to stereotyping.
◦ Stereotyping occurs when schemas overgeneralize
attributes of a group to which others belong
◦ A stereotype is an assumption that every member of
the group possesses certain characteristics
◦ Not every member of group fits the stereotype
◦ Stereotypes affect the way we communication and
interact with others
Interpretation- Interpreting
Information
◦ Interpretation is the process in which we assign meaning
◦ As we perceive and organize sensory information, we assign
meaning to it
◦ Example: Recall the loud noise example-to determine what
caused the loud noise, you have to interpret what the loud
sound means
◦ We interpret what sensory messages mean to our own
experiences using mental structures known as
schemata/schemas
Interpretation- Interpreting
Information
◦ Schemata is storage of related information that we use to
interpret new experiences (make sense of experiences)
◦ We also use frames to interpret information (frames of
reference/mental frames)
◦ Frames are the assumptions and attitudes we use to filter
perceptions to create meaning
◦ Example: If you frames the world as place life with criminals
you are likely interpret that banging on your window as
someone trying to break in (Runda Example Experience)
Interpretation- Interpreting
Information
◦ If you frame the world as a place full of rude people,
you may interpret failure of people to say hell as a
deliberate snub or failure to see you or ignore you
◦ Individual's frames develop over time, based on
experience, interaction with others, and innate
personality
◦ Media is a strong source of frames (watching
pornography example)
Interpretation- Interpreting
Information
◦ Attribution (Errors) and Attribution theory: As we interact
with others, we attempt to determine the causes of
behavior(partners, friends, family members etc) and
often make errors
◦ How often do you wonder “why did she (or he) do
that?”
◦ Attribution theory : Attribution theory explains the
cognitive and verbal processes we use to judge our
own and others’ behavior
Interpretation- Interpreting
Information
◦ One attribution we often make is whether the cause of
an individual’s behavior is internal or external.
◦ An internal cause would be a personality characteristic,
whereas an external cause would be situational.
◦ A common mistake that occurs when we make
ascriptions about behavior is called attributional bias
◦ Attributional bias are errors people make when they are
evaluating/justifying their own and others’ behavior
Interpretation- Interpreting
Information
◦ For example, we are more likely to attribute our own
negative behavior to external causes and our positive
actions to internal states
◦ This is referred to as a self-serving bias.
◦ Example: If you are polite, it is because you have good
manners; if you are rude, it is because others mistreated
you
Interpretation- Interpreting
Information
◦ Most individuals are harsher judges of other people’s
behavior than they are of their own.
◦ We tend to attribute others’ negative behavior to
internal causes (such as their personality) and their
positive behavior to external causes (such as the
situation).
◦ This tendency is referred to as the fundamental
attribution error
Interpretation- Interpreting
Information
◦ A third type of attribution error people engage in is called
overattribution.
◦ Over-attribution occurs when you select one or two
obvious characteristics (such as an individual’s sex, ethnicity,
or age) and use them to explain almost anything that
person does
◦ Overattribution occurs because we use mental “shortcuts”
to understand events around us
◦ What do we say when we see a man in dreads? what about
a woman?
Interpretation- Interpreting
Information
◦ Attributional biases have implications in the way
people communicate and conduct relationships
◦ Example in marital relationships spouses tend to link
negative behaviors to internal/personality traits and
difficult to change and positive behaviors as situational
and temporary (money)