Perception and Human

Communication
MAKING SENSE OF THE WORLD AROUND US
Perception

• Making sense of the world around us

• The social & cognitive process by which individuals
assign meaning to raw sense data
• Differences in perceptions
Making Sense of the World
• Perception involves 3 sub-processes:
• Selection

• Organization

• Interpretation

• These stages aren’t a distinct sequence but overlapping aspects of an integrated

process
Selection
• Selection –what we attend to or choose for further processing

• Selection is necessary—we’re exposed to more sensory info than we can

consciously process

• Selection (and all stages of perception) is a combination of:

• Conscious attention (e.g., motives, focus: cocktail party effect)

• Unconscious attention
Factors Influencing Selection
• Qualities possessed by stimuli:

• (See text) Contrast, frequency, intensity, novelty,

qualities which overlap w/ motivations

• Individual differences—e.g., priorities, values, cognitive structures

• Individual tendencies in selection are largely based on learned behavior

Organization

Organization —how we arrange or organize the info we

attend to (select). Typically there are multiple ways to
assemble information

Consider the following images:

Factors Influencing Organization
Organizational principles:

◦ proximity, similarity, difference

Cognitive schemata—
◦ The default templates we utilize initially when organizing information about
situations, objects, persons, etc.
◦ Are established through a combination of experience, socialization and
familiarity
Types of Cognitive Schemata
•Prototypes – an ideal representation that help us define the most
representative example of a category and its qualities.
• Broad categories.

•Scripts – how we act in certain events.

• Subconscious schemata
Types of Cognitive Schemata
•Personal Constructs – how we perceive people, objects and events.
• Physical, role, interactional, or psychological.

•Stereotypes – A predictive generalization about a person/situation

Interpretation
Interpretation—how we assign meaning to what we’ve
selected and organized

◦Heavily influenced by individual factors—character,

situation, etc.
◦Inherently subjective, though individuals often share
common ‘starting points’
Interpretation: Attribution
Attribution (Kelly, 1967) — inferences about people based on behavior. 2 types

◦ Internal (dispositional)—behavior due to person’s character

◦ External (situational)—behavior due to circumstances

When making attributions we attempt to determine:

◦ Is the behavior permanent or transitory? Does the person have freedom of

choice/control over their actions? (control dimension—Wood, 2004)
Person Perception
Implicit personality theories: attributes we think ‘go together’.

◦ Halo-effect: inferring additional similar (positive) qualities on the basis of an

observed attribute.

◦ https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=halo-
effect&&view=detail&mid=F39B9366F32751C60627F39B9366F32751C60627
&&FORM=VRDGAR
Other General Influences on Perception
• Context:
• Contextual principles—rules & norms about meaning,
importance, etc. within a particular context
• Contextual states—current state or climate of a particular
context
• Degree of involvement
• Personality (e.g. cognitive complexity)
• Past experience—knowledge, reputation, primacy/recency
TED TALK

Do we see reality as it is?

https://www.ted.com/talks/donald_hoffman_do_we_see_r
eality_as_it_is/discussion?referrer=playlist-
how_your_brain_constructs_real
In-Class Activity
After viewing the Ted Talk Do we see reality as it is, please answer the following
questions.
1. What’s the main argument of this Ted Talk? Do we see reality as it is? The
speaker raises many examples to support his argument. Pick one from his talk to
explain why we do/do not see reality as it is.
2. Do you agree with his argument? Give an example from your daily life
experience to illustrate why you agree with him or not.
3. How to improve perceptual accuracy in communication? Give an example of
yourself to explain you strategy/strategies.
Improving Perceptual Accuracy in
Communication
• Being mindful—awareness of biases & expectation
• Good listening skills
• Perception-checking: verbal probes that assess perceptual accuracy

◦ Repetition, restatement, clearinghouse

◦ May be overused