interpersonal communication, perspective chapter 3

1. Chapter 3
Perception and Communication

2. What is your perspective?
• Tragedy - (the burned down barn), but I also see hope (I can now see
the moon.) Apparently the moon was not visible while the barn was
standing
• Loss - The barn burned down (tremendous loss), but now I see the
moon (something is gained.) Even though something horrible
happened, something good came out of it. Optimism in the statement.
• Grief. The barn burned down, and now I can see the moon…but I
really miss the barn. Trying desperately to find anything that can
assure us that our loss is not as bad as we think it is.
• While the moon will provide a beautiful light for awhile, it cannot
erase the sorrow we feel over the loss of the barn, and all that it
represented–warmth, security, protection, and shelter. It can only
lessen our pain temporarily.

3. What is your perspective?
Another way to interpret it is:
•I thought the barn was so important, but I
didn’t realize that it was actually hiding the
moon. What treasure is hidden from our
vision? What have we failed to see? What
have we missed?

4. What do you see?

5. Quotes about Perception
“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on
where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of
person you are.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew
“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at
change.”
― Wayne W. Dyer

6. What does it mean?
Perception is a process by which individuals organize and
interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning
to their environment.
•The brain seeks information, mainly by directing
an individual to look, listen and sniff.
•Perception can cause disagreements among
people, because each person sees things differently.
•We have to decide between the truth and perception,
because perceptions are always incomplete and
subjective.

7. In living our lives and communicating with others our
perception of reality is less important than reality itself. Some
would argue that there IS no ultimate reality, only the illusion
of our perceptions.
Our perceptions are influenced by:
1) physical elements - what information your eye or ear can
actually take in, how your brain processes it.
2) environmental elements - what information is out there to
receive, its context.
3) learned elements - culture, personality, habit: what filters
we use to select what we take in and how we react to it.

8. Connect the Dots with
three straight lines

9. Perception in Communication
Color blind people will not perceive "red" the way as other people do. Those with
normal vision may physically see "red" similarly, but will interpret it culturally:
- red meaning "stop" or "anger" or "excitement" or "in debt" (US)
- red meaning "good fortune" (China)
- red meaning your school's colors

10. What does it mean?
• Many factors influence the way we view something
or someone.
• Factors influencing our perception are the
person's approach and motive/ motive, attention,
knowledge, and belief.
• Generally, "perception are created by habit” and
they can become a major pitfall.
• Some "situations" may factor in a person's
perception: like "time", "work settings", and "social
settings”.

11. The Process of Human Perception
What is Perception?
The active process of creating
meaning by 1) selecting, 2)
organizing, and 3) interpreting
people, objects, events, situations
and other phenomena
•The Process is continuous and
each affects the others.

12. 1st
Step – Selection Process
The world deluges us with sensory
information every second.
Our mind produces interpretations and
models and perceptions a mile a
minute.
To survive, we have to select what
information we attend to and what we
remember.

13. 1st
Step – Selection Process
 Notice what is going on around you. Is the
room warm or cold?
Messy or clean? Light
or dark? Can you smell anything?
 Are you sleepy, hungry
comfortable?
 We narrow our attention to what we defined
as important in that moment.
 Flight or fight (Survival mean reason.)

14. 1st
Step – Selection Process
We select to attend or ignore certain stimuli
based on a number of factors:
 The qualities of the phenomena
- We notice things that stand out (larger, brighter, louder) or change.
 Self-indication
- We deliberately influence what we notice by indicating things to
ourselves.
 Our motives and needs affect what we see/not see
- Romantic relationships
 Culture
- “Different behavior” standout (Behavior, attitudes, beliefs, habits)

15. 2nd
Step - Organization
Constructivism – we organize and interpret experience by
applying cognitive structures called schemata/Schema
 Prototype
- Exemplified by person or relationships that is “ideal.”
 Applying Personal construct
- More detailed assessment
of particular qualities or people/Phenomena
 Stereotype
- Personal construct applied predict what a
He, she or it will do
- Approach useful to deal with everyday situations
 Script
- Most daily activities' are governed by
our script

16. What should a professor look like?

17. Fun With Stereotypes: Some Professors
You’ll Have in College
http://www.collegeview.com/articles/article/fun-with-stereotypes-the-8-
professors-youll-have-in-college
Meet your future professors…
•1. The Tweed. What better way to kick off our list than with the granddaddy of all professor
stereotypes? This tenure-track prof is bespectacled, impossibly well spoken, and nowhere
near OK with you eating Fritos in his class.
•He drives: A vintage two-seater convertible, perfect for countryside jaunts.
He wears: Tweed blazers with reinforced elbows. (Obviously.)
His motto: “When I was at Princeton…”
•2. The Activist. Whether she’s railing against corporate greed outside the student union or
throwing the blinders off white privilege in a 100-level race and gender course, The Activist
never gets too comfy. And neither should you. Expect some prickly moments… and a few
revelations.
•She drives: A heavily stickered rally van.
She wears: Comfortable footwear/shirts bearing the “no” symbol.
Her motto: “Open your eyes, people!”

18. Meet your future professors…
3. The Adjunct. The Adjunct has a lot going on. He’s studying for his master’s,
working full time, and his wife just had twins. Be patient if he seems a little
frazzled. Maybe suggest that instead of chapter readings, your class could watch
that new documentary that’s sort of related to economic theory? Your reward will
be a fervent, appreciative smile…and maybe an A.
He drives: An increasingly crowded hatchback.
He wears: Slightly rumpled business casual.
His motto: “Is this ECON 305?”
4. The World’s Most Interesting Man. This professor has read more, traveled
more, and generally lived more in the last year than most people do in a lifetime.
Don’t bother trying to relate—just sit back and enjoy a semester’s worth of the
most envy-inducing stories you’ve ever heard.
He drives: Trains, planes, camels, buses, cars, rickshaws, you name it.
He wears: Stuff that travels well.
His motto: “That reminds me of the time I…”

19. A professor’s office
• When you go into your professor's office, you are
likely to notice things that are consistent with your
schema of what a professor's office "should" look
like.
• For example, you are likely to notice pencils,
books, papers, etc.
• But what about the items that are not consistent
with your schema of what should be in a
professor's office, like candles, a snow globe, a
strange sign, or perfume.. you may not notice
these thing right away.

20. A professor’s office

21. 2nd
Step - Organization
As we listen, we organize and interpret
experience by applying the four cognitive
schemata.
• Which prototype (what good friend, person in trouble, student, teacher
do they closely resemble.
• Then we apply the personal constructs to define more detail (are they
upset or calm, open to advice or closed to it.)
• Based on the construct of others, we apply stereotypes (how has this
person reacted in the past? How this situation similar to others?) that
predict what they will do.
• We then apply the script (how the interaction should proceed, including
how we should act.)

22. 3rd
Step - Interpretation
It is not clear yet!
After using:
•Step 1 (We select the
perceived phenomena)
•Step 2 (We use the cognitive
•schemata – Prototype, personal construct
measurement, stereotype, and, script)
•Step 3 (We then assign meaning to what we
have noticed and organized.) Remember: There is
no ‘real’ meaning to what we see.

23. 3rd
Step - Interpretation
Interpretation: The subjective process of
explaining our perceptions in ways that make
sense to us.
Four Attributions
 Locus
 Stability
 Specificity
 Responsibility

24. 3rd
Step - Interpretation
1st
dimension - Locus
•A person’s actions to internal factors
- “ She is .”
•A person’s action to external factors
- “The traffic jam really frustrated her, as she was
late.”

25. 3rd
Step - Interpretation
2nd
dimension – Stability (concerns Time)
•This explains actions as result of stable
factors that won’t change over time.
- “He is not always aware, since he has lost his
hearing.”
•Or, explains unstable factors that may or will
different at another time.
- “She acted that way, because she had just been
fired.”

26. 3rd
Step - Interpretation
3rd
dimension – Specificity (All situations, events, and places,
or particular or limited distuations and places.)
•Explains behavior (global implications) that apply to
most or all situations.
-“He is a big spender”
•Explains behavior (specific implications) that apply
to certain situations or conditions.
-“He spends money when he is earning a lot.”

27. Why did she yell? Book Example
Stable (Time) and specific:
“She yelled at Fred (specific) because she is
short-tempered (stable).”
Stable (Time) and global:
“She yells at everyone (global) because she is
short-tempered (stable.)
Unstable(Time) and specific:
“She yelled at Fred (specific) because she was in
a hurry (unstable.)
Unstable (Time) and global
“She yells at everyone (global) when she is in a
hurry (unstable.)

28. 3rd
Step - Interpretation
4th
dimension – Responsibility
•How we account for other’s actions affects our
feelings about them and our relationship.
•We hold people accountable for their behavior if:
-If they have control (less understanding.)
-If they have a (unstable) situation.
-If they are talking medicine or have a medical or
health issue (unstable.)

29. Attributions
• Attribution is the process of identifying a set of user actions (“events”)
that contribute in some manner to a desired outcome, and then
assigning a value to each of these events.
• Our attributions influence the meanings we attach to to others and their
communication.
Book example: Why does my supervisor shout orders in a rude manner?
• Does she have an authoritarian personality?
• Is she insecure because she is in a new role as a supervisor?
• Is she reacting to medicine?
(Each of the three attributions will lead us to attach a distinct meaning to
the shouting.)

30. Research shows that culture, either individualist or
collectivist, affects how people make attributions.
• People in individualist cultures, generally Anglo-America
and Anglo-Saxon European societies, value individuals,
personal goals, and independence.
• People in collectivist cultures see individuals as members
of groups such as families, tribes, work units, and nations,
and tend to value conformity and interdependence. This
cultural trait is common in Asia, traditional native American
societies, and Africa.

31. Attributions errors
1) Self-serving bias – we tend to
construct attributions that serve our
self interest.
- We are inclined to make internal, stable,
and global attributions for our positive
actions and our successes.
- We are likely to claim good results come
about because of personal control we
exerted.

32. Example from the class book
Chico:
“When I do badly on a test or paper, I usually
say either the professor was unfair or I had
too much to do that we and couldn’t study like
I wanted to. But when my friends do badly on
a test, I tend to think they’re not good in that
subject or they aren’t disciplined or whatever.”

33. Attributions errors
Don’t blame me!
The self-serving bias works in
another way.
•We tend to avoid taking
responsibility for negative
actions and failures.
•By attributing them to external,
unstable, and specific factors that
are beyond our control.

34. Example
• if Jacob’s car tire is punctured he may
attribute that to a hole in the road; by
making attributions to the poor condition of
the highway, he can make sense of the
event without any discomfiture that it may in
reality have been the result of his bad
driving.

35. Attributions errors
Fundamental attribution error (dimension of
the locus (internal/external factors.)
-We tend to overestimate the internal causes.
-And underestimate the external causes.
-We also will underestimate the internal
causes of our own misdeeds and failures and
overestimate the external causes/

36. Homework for Wednesday:
Read Chapter 4 (pgs. 104 to 106)
• Gender speech communities
 Socialization into gender speech communities
 Gendered communication in practice
 Misunderstandings between gender speech
communities

37. Connect the Dots

38. Influences On Perception
• Physiology
- vision, hearing, being tired, if you are an am/pm person, have mental
disabilities, etc.
• Expectations
- The impact of expectations influences our perception. (The self fulfilling
prophecy)
• Age
- Experiences provide a more complex understanding of our perceptions
of people or situations. (Can be negative or positive)
• Culture
- The influence of culture is so persuasive, we don’t realize how strong its
influence in shaping our perception of others and situations.

39. An Elephant!

40. If you were blind,
how would you describe?

41. Guidelines for Improving Perception
And Communication
• Recognize that all perceptions are partial
and subjective
• Avoid mind reading
• Check perceptions with others
• Distinguish between facts and inferences
• Guard against the self-serving bias
• Guard against the fundamental attribution
error
• Monitor labels

42. The Ladder of
Abstraction