Learning Objectives

1.

Explain why a person is more than a camera. Perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory data in a way that enables us to make sense of our world. Perceptions are personally based. They are affected by the perspective we adopt, our sensory capabilities, our past experiences, and our level of motivation.

2.

Define and explain how the following affect perception: the figure-ground principle, selective exposure, selective perception, closure, stereotyping, open and closed orientation, and first impressions. The accuracy of our perceptions is affected by our inability to perceive two stimuli simultaneously (figure-ground principle). It is also influenced by our tendency to close ourselves to new experiences (selective exposure), our inclination to distort our perceptions of stimuli to make them conform to our need for internal consistency (selective perception), our desire not to open ourselves to unfamiliar experiences, and our need to perceive a complete world (closure). How we perceive another person is a key determinant of the kind of relationship we will share with that person. Thus, perceiving others and the roles they play is an essential part of the communication process. In this regard, a number of factors can prevent accurate perceptions. We frequently evaluate others on the basis of first impressions, and we tend to stereotype people-to divide them into groups and place them in niches. Stereotyping can be especially harmful by promoting prejudice, since it encourages us to emphasize similarities and ignore differences. Prejudice is an unfair or biased extension of stereotyping, which we must guard against.

3.

Describe how past experience, gender, cultural background, the media, and technology can influence perception. Past experience, culture, gender, the media, and technology also influence how we perceive and interpret people and events. By serving as perceptual filters, they guide us in giving meaning to both our real and virtual experiences.

4.

Define and provide examples of allness, blindering, and facts and inferences. Other barriers to perceptual accuracy are allness (the habit of thinking we know it all), blindering (the tendency to obscure solutions to problems by adding unnecessary restrictions), and confusion of facts with inferences (the inability to distinguish between observations and
assumptions).

5.

Identify ways to increase the accuracy of your perceptions. It is important that you work to increase the validity of your perceptions. As a first step, you need to recognize the role you play in the perceptual process.

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