Perception

Perception
 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 our
existing knowledge.
Perception
 The process by which people select,
organize, interpret, and respond to
information from the world around them”
“Perception (consciously and
unconsciously) involves searching for,
obtaining, and processing information in
the mind in an attempt to make sense of
the world
Importance of Perception

Perception is a subjective, active and

creative process through which we assign
meaning to sensory information to
understand ourselves and others. It can be
defined as our recognition and
interpretation of sensory information. It
also includes how we respond to the
information.
Importance of Perception

1. Perception is very important

in understanding human
behavior because every person perceives
the world and approaches life problems
differently. Whatever we see or feel is not
necessarily the same as it really is. When
we buy something, it is not because it is
the best, but because we take it to be the
best.
Importance of Perception

2. If people behave on the basis of their

perception, we can predict their
behavior in the changed circumstances by
understanding their present perception of
the environment. One person may be
viewing the facts in one way which may
be different from the facts as seen by
another viewer.
 Importance of Perception

3. With the help of perception, the needs of

various people can be determined,
because people’s perception is influenced by
their needs.
Importance of Perception

4. Perception is very important for the

manager who wants to avoid making
errors when dealing with people and
events in the work setting. This problem is
made more complicated by the fact that
different people perceive the same
situation differently. In order to deal with
the subordinates effectively, the managers
must understand their perceptions
properly.
Importance of Perception

5. Perception builds character (not necessarily

good or bad character) that defines different roles
individuals fall into.

6. It is vitally important if we want to get along

with others to try to see things from their
perspective or walk in their shoes for a while. If
we walk in their shoes we will gain a new
perspective about things and in that understand
the other and also can love and help the other
more appropriately.
Perceptual Process

In order to fully understand how the

perception process works, we have to
follow each of the following steps.
3 stages of perception process are;

1 Selection.
2 Organization.
3. Interpretation.
1. Selection

The world around us is filled with an infinite

number of stimuli that we might attend, but our
brains do not have the resources to pay
attention to everything.
Thus, the first step of perception is the decision
of what to attend to.
Selecting is the first part of the perception
process, in which we focus our attention on
certain incoming sensory information. In
selection, we choose stimuli that attract our
attention.
2. Organization

Organizing is the second part of the

perception process, in which we sort and
categorize information that we perceive
based on innate and learned cognitive
patterns.
3. Interpretation

After we have attended to a stimulus, and

our brains have received and organized
the information, we interpret it in a way
that makes sense using our existing
information about the world
Interpretation simply means that we take
the information that we have sensed and
organized and turn it into something that
we can categorize.
Errors in Perception

There are some errors in perception;

Illusion.
Hallucination.
Halo Effect.
Stereotyping.
Similarity.
Horn Effect.
Contrast.
Illusion

The illusion is a false perception. Here the

person will mistake a stimulus and
perceive it wrongly.
For example, in the dark, a rope is
mistaken as a snake or vice versa. The
voice of an unknown person is mistaken
as a friend’s voice. A person standing at a
distance who is not known may be
perceived as a known person.
Hallucination

Sometimes we come across instances

where the individual perceives some
stimulus, even when it is not present.
This phenomenon is known as a
hallucination. The person may see an
object, person, etc. or he may listen to
some voice though there are no objects
and sounds in reality.
Selective Perception

Selective perception means the situation when

people selectively interpret what they see on
the basis of their interests, background,
experience, and attitudes.
It means any characteristics that make a
person, object, or event stand out will increase
the probability that it will be perceived.
Because it is impossible for us to assimilate
everything we see, only certain stimuli can be
taken in.
Halo Effect

 The individual is evaluated on the basis of

perceived positive quality, feature or trait. When
we draw a general impression about an
individual on the basis of a single
characteristic, such as intelligence, sociability, or
appearance, a halo effect is operating.
 In other words, this is the tendency to rate a man
uniformly high or low in other traits if he is
extraordinarily high or low in one particular trait:
If a worker has few absences, his supervisor might
give him a high rating in all other areas of work.
Stereotyping

People usually can fall into at least one general

category based on physical or behavioral traits
then they will be evaluated. When we judge
someone on the basis of our perception of
the group to which he or she belongs, we are
using the shortcut called stereotyping.
example, a boss might assume that a worker
from a Middle East country is lazy and cannot
meet performance objectives, even if the
worker tried his best.
Similarity

Often, people tend to seek out and rate

more positively those who are similar to
themselves. This tendency to approve of
similarity may cause evaluators to give
better ratings to employees who exhibit
the same interests, work methods, points
of view or standards.
Horn Effect

When the individual is completely

evaluated on the basis of a negative
quality or feature perceived. This results
in an overall lower rating than an
acceptable rate.
He is not formally dressed up in the
office, that’s why he may be casual at
work too.
Contrast

The tendency to rate people relative to

other people rather than to the individual
performance he or she is doing. Rather
will evaluate an employee by comparing
that employee’s performance with other
employees.
Attribution Theory
 Attribution Theory
When individuals observe behavior, they
attempt to determine whether it is internally or
externally caused.
– Distinctiveness
◦ Does individual act the same way in other situations?
– Consensus
◦ Does individual act the same as others in same
situation?
– Consistency
◦ Does the individual act the same way over time?
Attribution Theory
Itsuggests that individuals observe their
own behavior or experience, try to figure
out what caused it, and then (whether or not
their conclusion is in fact correct) shape
their future behavior accordingly.
Example, If a consumer has had bad
experience with a locally- made product
(and good experience with an imported
one) he or she may conclude that the bad
product is bad because it is locally made
Attribution Theory
• 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.

• Self-Serving Bias – The tendency for

individuals to attribute their own successes
to internal factors while putting the blame
for failures on external factors.
Thank You