What is Perception?

A process by which individuals organize and

interpret their sensory impressions in order to
give meaning to their environment.
Peoples behavior is based on their perception
of what reality is, not on reality itself.
The world as it is perceived is the world that is
behaviorally important.

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Factors That
Influence
Perception
 Major Influences
on the Perception Process
CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE PERCEIVER
Needs
Values
Experiences
Attitudes

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
PERCEIVED PERCEPTION
Appearance Overall
Communication Understanding of
Behaviour Perception

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
SITUATION
Physical Location
Social Setting
Organizational Setting
 PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION
Perceptual Organization is a process by which
we group outside stimuli into recognizable
and identifiable patterns and whole objects.
Once the stimulus is received from outside,
the mental process begin organizing this
stimulus into a meaningful and identifiable
whole. This Perceptual process consists of the
following components. Environmental
Stimuli, Sensation & Attention
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 PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION
EXAMPLE : A Table has a flat top & 4 legs &
we know what a table looks like so that
whenever we see a flat top with 4 legs
attached to it. We immediately organize the
stimulus into a whole and recognize it as a
table. The top alone or leg alone would not be
meaningful in the organization of the
stimulus.

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 THE SPECIFIC PRINCIPLES
UNDERLYINGPERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION
1. FIGURE & GROUND
2. SIMILARITY & GROUPING
3. PROXIMITY
4. CLOSURE

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 FIGURE & GROUND

The figure ground simply means that we tend

to be attentive to such perceived objects
that stand out against a background.
EXAMPLE: We are used to reading text
which is printed in black against a white
background, becoz black stands out. Also
because we have been mentally locked into
one way of organizing what we see.

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 FIGURE & GROUND

Figure-Ground also means that people have

a tendency to organize their perception into
figure and ground relationships. However
learning affects which stimuli are perceived
as figures and which as ground. This can be
understood by familiar reversible Figure-
Ground patterns.

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FIGURE & GROUND

The picture of the

women shown here,
now can say how old
she is ? Well according
to you she may either
be in her early 20s or
late 70s

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FIGURE & GROUND

In this figure two

different pictures
come out i.e. of a
VASE and TWO
PEOPLE FACING EACH
OTHER, This also
depends on figure and
ground

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 SIMILARITY & GROUPING

Stimuli which have common

physical similarities are more
likely to be grouped together.
Individuals tend to group stimuli
X X X X X X X X automatically6 so that they form
O O O O O O O O a unified picture or impression.
X X X X X X X X The perception of stimuli as
O O O O O O O O groups or chunks of information,
rather than as discreet bits of
information, facilitates their
memory and recall. In this figure
we tend to see 4 columns in the
right because of similarity.

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 PROXIMITY

Stimuli which occur in same

proximity , either in space or in
time are often associated
O O O together. For example if we see
O O O two people together frequently,
O O O we will tend to attribute the
O O O characteristics we learn about
O O O one individual to the other until
O O O we learn that our inferences
are correct. In this figure we see
3 columns of 6 dots rather than 6
rows of 3 dots

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 CLOSURE
Individuals have a need for closure. They express
their need by organizing their perception so that
they form a complete picture. If the pattern of
stimuli to which they are exposed is incomplete,
they tend to perceive it nevertheless as
complete. This means that they consciously or
subconsciously fill in the missing pieces.
Thus a circle with a section of periphery missing
will invariably be perceived be perceived as a
circle and not an arc.
The need for closure is also seen in the tension
as individual experiences when a task is
incomplete and the satisfaction and relief that
comes with its completion.
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Attribution Theory: Judging Others
Our perception and judgment of others are significantly
influenced by our assumptions of the other peoples
internal states.
When individuals observe behavior, they attempt to determine
whether it is internally or externally caused.
Internal causes are under that persons control.
External causes are not person forced to act in that way.
Causation judged through:
Distinctiveness
Shows different behaviors in different situations.
Consensus
Response is the same as others to same situation.
Consistency
Responds in the same way over time.

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 Errors and Biases in Attributions
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
We blame people first, not the situation
Self-Serving Bias
The tendency for individuals to attribute their own
successes to internal factors while putting the blame
for failures on external factors
It is our success but their failure

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 Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging
Others
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 persons characteristics that are
affected by comparisons with other people recently
encountered who rank higher or lower on the same
characteristics

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Another Shortcut: Stereotyping
Judging someone on the basis of ones
perception of the group to which that person
belongs a prevalent and often useful, if not
always accurate, generalization

Profiling
A form of stereotyping in which members of a
group are singled out for intense scrutiny based
on a single, often racial, trait.

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 Specific Shortcut Applications in
Organizations
Employment Interviews
Perceptual biases of raters affect the accuracy of interviewers
judgments of applicants.
Formed in a single glance 1/10 of a second!
Performance Expectations
Self-fulfilling prophecy (Pygmalion effect): The lower or higher
performance of employees reflects preconceived leader
expectations about employee capabilities.
Performance Evaluations
Appraisals are often the subjective (judgmental) perceptions of
appraisers of another employees job performance.
Critical impact on employees.

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