1. Chapter 2
Perception: The Process of Understanding

2. Perception Defined
•The mental process through which we
interpret that which we sense.
•Active perception: Individually, we
provide meaning
•Language is an ARBITRARY system

3. Filtering
• Developmental features which impact our
perception
– Education, Religion, Occupation, Social
status
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•Organization
Figure/Ground
•Closure
Proximity
•Similarity
Interpretation

4. Self-Awareness and
Self-Concept:
Understanding Yourself

5. Self-Awareness
• Your sense of self; your accommodation
with your past; plans for your future;
and all the prejudices, potentialities, and
possibilities that are you.
• Symbolic interactionism---previous
communicative events that make you who
you are today.

6. Self
Actualization
Self-Esteem Needs
Love and Belonging Needs
Safety Needs
Basic Needs: Water, Shelter, Food

7. Self-Concept
• Self-Image: The
picture you have of
yourself, the sort of
person you believe
you are.
– Descriptors
– Roles
– Categories
• Self-Esteem: How
we feel about
ourselves, how well
we like & value who
we are.
– Past
successes/failures
– Self-consciousness

8. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Tendency to become
what people
(including yourself)
expect you to become

9. Gender Differences
in Self-Concept
• MEN
• WOMEN
• ANDROGYNY:
Female & Male Traits

10. Improving Self-Concept
AWARENESS
Establish a POSITIVE ATTITUDE
Locus of Control:
Internal/External

11. What Occurs In Perception?
• Selection--Some stimuli gains our attention while we neglect
some stimuli
• Selective Attention--Focus on certain cues and ignore others
• Selective Retention--We categorize, store, and retrieve
certain information…while we discard other information
• Stereotyping--placing people/things into convenient
categories rather than perceiving them based on individual
characteristics.
Time to stop stereotyping