INTRODUCTION Unit 4: Sensory and

TO INDIVIDUAL perceptual processes in

work behaviour
DIFFERENCES
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT
• Assignment 1 will be available on BlackBoard before Friday
• Due date is 25 August 2023 at 12:00 (noon)
• Please look on BlackBoard for all the information
 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
• Define the terms perception and sensation
• Discuss briefly the following perceptual laws and factors which determine how visual
sensations are organized and interpreted:
– Form perception
– Depth and distance perception
– Perceptual consistency
– Perception of movement
– Visual or perceptual illusions.
• Explain correctly the different factors that can influence sensation and perception
• Sketch correctly the different factors that can influence sensation and perception
• Define person perception
• Distinguish between the various factors biases and fallacies that occur in person
perception by referring to:
– Cognitive and relationship schemas;
– The primacy effect;
– Effects of physical appearance;
– Stereotypes
– Halo effect
– Contrast effect
– Projection
 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

• Define attribution accurately

• Explain internal personal and external situational attributions briefly
• Name and Explain the different attribution errors and biases in depth;
• Briefly discuss perception in impression management.
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
INTRODUCTION
• Why is perception important?

• Behaviour is based on our perception of what reality is, not on reality itself

• The world that is perceived is the world that is behaviourally important

• Every day living and working dependent on awareness of stimuli and

interpreting it to act correctly

• Important that I-O psychologists and management are aware of how

perception can impact on employee attitudes, behaviour and work
processes
SENSATION AND PERCEPTION - DEFINITION
• Sensation and perception refers to the awareness, identification,
organisation and interpretation of stimuli received by the senses
• This enables people to make sense of and give meaning to their
experiences in different environments

• Sensation
– physiological process
– How people become aware of what is happening inside and outside
their bodies through stimuli
• Stimuli
– Physical inputs or energy we receive through our five senses
SENSATION AND PERCEPTION - DEFINITION
• Perception
– More of a psychological process
– How we select, analyse, organise, interpret and understand or give
meaning to sensations

• The process of sensation and perception take place within one unified
information-processing system
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
HOW MANY STICKS DO YOU SEE?
VISUAL PERCEPTION
• Related to the sense of sight in the eye and related neurological structures
• Unique experience for each individual
• One that is influenced by each person’s experience, knowledge, cognition,
and acquired meaning systems
• Perceptual laws and factors which determine perceptual organisation
– Form perception
– Depth and spatial perception
– Perceptual constancy
– Perception of movement
– Visual or perceptual illusions
FORM PERCEPTION: WHAT DO YOU SEE?
FORM PERCEPTION
• Applies to all our sensations and allows people to organise visual
sensations to obtain sense and order
• e.g. soccer team – different numbers, colours of clothes, specific positions.
• Related to Gestalt principles ‘the whole is more than the sum of the parts’
• Principle of perceptual organisation explains how people organise visual
elements into meaningful wholes
FORM PERCEPTION
• Gestalt laws of visual perception
– People organise visual stimuli into figure and ground dimensions –
implies contrast to make the differentiation of stimuli easier.
FORM PERCEPTION
• Gestalt laws of visual perception (continued)
CLASS ACTIVITY
• Identify the Gestalt law represented by each picture.

Law of closure
Law of proximity
Law of similarity

Law of continuity Law of Pragnanz

DEPTH OR SPATIAL PERCEPTION
• When we look at something, we use either one eye (monocular view) or two
eyes (binocular view)
• We interpret objects according to:
– Depth dimensions;
– Distance;
– Height and
– Width
DEPTH OR SPATIAL PERCEPTION
• Binocular cues
• Monocular cues
– Convergence
– Size cues
– Retinal
– Linear perspective
disparity
– Texture gradient
– Atmospheric
perspective
– Height cues
– Motion parallax
– Interposition/ overlap
PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCY
• Allows people to change and move around from known to unknown
situations and still perceive many things as stable and the same
• A number of visual constancies are used to explain stable visual perception:

– Size constancy
– Shape constancy
– Brightness constancy
– Colour constancy
– Location constancy
PERCEPTION OF MOVEMENT
PERCEPTION OF MOVEMENT
• The perception of movement is an area where visual perception is sometimes
inconsistent, because information from the retina and eye muscles may play
tricks on people
• Real movement: Movement that happens when an object moves from one
place to another.
• Apparent movement: Happens when movement is perceived in objects that are
in reality motionless
⁻ Stroboscopic movement: when a series of still images or lights are rapidly
projected
⁻ Auto-kinetic illusion: When viewer has no visual cues and framework to
observe that the object is stationary or moving.
⁻ Induced movement: People may think they have seen movement when in
fact objects were motionless;
VISUAL OR PERCEPTUAL ILLUSIONS
• Visual or optical illusions involve differences and discrepancies
between the appearance of visual stimuli as seen by the viewer and its
physical reality.
– Physical illusions: Caused by real stimulus attributes
– Induced illusion: when people experience something that does not
happen e.g. sitting on a train.
– Perceptual optical illusions: caused by stimuli having misleading
cues which play tricks on the mind and lead to inaccurate
perceptions
COLOUR VISION (READ)
CLASS ACTIVITY: AS FAST AS POSSIBLE READ
THE FOLLOWING:
Why was it difficult?

Colour Vision
 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
• Define the terms perception and sensation
• Discuss briefly the following perceptual laws and factors which determine how visual
sensations are organized and interpreted:
– Form perception
– Depth and distance perception
– Perceptual consistency
– Perception of movement
– Visual or perceptual illusions.
• Explain correctly the different factors that can influence sensation and perception
• Sketch correctly the different factors that can influence sensation and perception
• Define person perception
• Distinguish between the various factors biases and fallacies that occur in person
perception by referring to:
– Cognitive and relationship schemas;
– The primacy effect;
– Effects of physical appearance;
– Stereotypes
– Halo effect
– Contrast effect
– Projection
FACTORS INFLUENCING SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
Characteristics of the perceiver
Characteristics of the target
Attitudes
Physical appearance
Mood
Verbal communication
Self-concept
Nonverbal cues
Cognitive structure
Intentions

SOCIAL PERCEPTION

Barriers
Selective perception
Stereotyping
First impression error
Characteristic of the situation
Projection
Context of the interaction
Self-fulfilling prophecies
Strength of situational cues
ATTRIBUTES OF THE PERCEIVER
• When an individual receives various types of stimuli the perception can be
strongly and subjectively influenced by multiple personal characteristics
• E.g. the criteria for beauty and attractiveness may be different and
subjective
• Subjective factors include cognitive style, motivation and emotion, needs,
beliefs, preferences, expectations, values, attitudes, prejudices, unique
experiences, background, and personality attributes all influence perception
• These factors enhance subjectivity and selectivity in perception
ATTRIBUTES OF STIMULI
• Attributes of perceived objects (stimuli) and influences from the surrounding
environment can have an impact on what is perceived
• Factors include motion; novelty; sound; proximity; background and size
• Physical characteristics of people (attractiveness, how they behave, dress,
social and economic status, etc.) influence how they are perceived and
judged
• E.g. beautiful people are judged to be more intelligent than less attractive
people and consequently given preference in certain job decisions
THE ROLE OF SITUATIONS IN PERCEPTION
• Sensations and the interpretations thereof cannot take place outside a
particular context or setting (time; temperature; distance; location, social
setting, etc.)
• E.g. Viewing nature early and late in the day during a relaxed holiday vs.
viewing nature early and late when travelling to and from work
• E.g. In a social setting a student will talk to his friends about the lecturers in
a very different way from how he responds to his lecturers during class
THE ROLE OF SITUATIONS IN PERCEPTION
PERSON OR INTERPERSONAL PERCEPTION

• Person perception or interpersonal or social perception

• Perceptual process that take place during interaction and communication
between people in many situations
• Impression formation - Involves obtaining and processing information and
giving meaning to perceptions
• First impressions are quick; formed in about 1/10th of a second
• People use many factors and methods when forming impressions of others
• Impression formation happens from both sides during interaction
FACTORS INFLUENCING IMPRESSION FORMATION

• Cognitive schemata
• Perceptual distortions
– The primacy effect
– Physical appearance
– Stereotypes
– Halo effect
– Contrast effect
– Projection
COGNITIVE SCHEMATA

• Schemata – mental images people form of how they think

other people will or should act in their roles
• Includes first or early impressions but new information can
also be added to existing schemata
• Certain characteristics are viewed as central characteristics
and opinions about these are not easily changed
• Peripheral characteristics are less important and can be
changed more readily
• Schemata represents people’s implicit personal personality
theories about the what and how of other’s behaviour
• Can be speculative, untested and biased, and lead to logical
errors in judging people
• Can relate to roles people have at work or in the community
• Event schemas prescribe how people should behave in
certain situations
PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS
1. The primacy effect
• Tendency for early information to be considered more
important than information that is received later
• Self-fulfilling prophecy (by product of primacy effect) – people
act in the way they are expected to act
• Confirmation bias – tendency of people to behave towards
each other in a way that will confirm their mutual
expectations of each other
PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS

2. Physical appearance and other

attraction determinants
• Judgements of others influenced
by their appearance –
attractiveness
• Similarity and proximity may also
encourage attraction between
people
3. Stereotypes
• Stereotypes (schemas) – belief that
people belonging to the same groups
or social affiliation have certain
characteristics
• Stereotypes are often broad,
speculative generalisations – ignore
diversity and often lead to
inaccurate perceptions
• In-groups and out-groups - based
on stereotypes and biased
schemas of other and own groups
PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS
4. Halo effect
• Form a central or general impression about others, mostly based on a
single attribute e.g. in an interview – a person’s education level

5. Contrast effect
• When perceptions are based on social comparisons with other people

6. Projection
• People attribute their own thoughts, feelings and motives to other
people.
 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

• Define attribution accurately

• Explain internal personal and external situational attributions briefly
• Name and Explain the different attribution errors and biases in depth;
• Briefly discuss perception in impression management.
ATTRIBUTION IN PERCEPTION

How people make judgments about

the causes of/ reasons for their own
and others’ behaviour.
WHY IS THIS BABY HAPPY?

External situational causes or circumstances

“The baby just woke up from his nap.”
Other examples:
“He scored well because it was an easy test.”
“She tripped because a squirrel ran in front of her.”
Internal or personal factors
The baby must be a happy baby.”
Other examples:
“He scored well on the exam because he is smart.”
“She tripped because she is clumsy.”
ATTRIBUTION
Three sources of information are used to decide on the nature of an attribution
or causing factor
1. Distinctiveness (is behaviour the same in other situations or toward other
people?)
2. Consistency (is behaviour the same at different times or different
situations?)
3. Consensus (is behavior similar to other’s in his/ her position?)
ATTRIBUTION ERRORS AND BIASES
Attributions can be accurate – but may be perceptual distortions

1. Fundamental attribution error

2. Actor-observer-effect
3. Defensive attribution bias
4. Self-serving bias
5. Just-world hypothesis
ATTRIBUTION ERRORS AND BIASES
1. Fundamental attribution error - overestimate internal or personality
factors and underestimates the situational factors in explaining
behaviour

2. Actor-observer effect – relate other people’s behaviour to personal

factors, but own behaviour to external circumstances

3. Defensive attribution bias - present themselves in a positive or good

way to impress other people or to feel good about themselves

4. Self-serving bias - successes attributed to internal factors, but

failures attributed to external factors

5. The just-world hypothesis - Include blaming the victim (related to

defensive attribution) – “good things to good people—bad things to
bad people”
THE VALUE OF IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT
• Impression formation – forms part of interpersonal and social human
behaviour / creating the best possible personal or professional image
• Creating and maintaining a positive image is a natural tendency
• Important for corporate image management - influencing employee and
customer perceptions to create favourable impression
• Honesty and transparency important criteria
• Methods to enhance impression formation:
1. Self-enhancing behaviours
2. Enhancing other people and organisations
BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT KEYNOTE MARK BOWDEN AT TED-X
TORONTO — THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING INAUTHENTIC

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk_SMBIW1mg
MY INVITATION TO YOU
• Go up to someone who you are indifferent to, someone who you would
never be friends with or someone who you would never approach and ask
them about them about their big idea. And be interested, be their friend and
act as if you are listening.

– Just try it, see what happens…

1. SELF-ENHANCING BEHAVIOURS – SELF STUDY

Improving physical • how employees behave, appearance of

workplaces
appearance

Emphasize positive • avoid negative emphases in publications

and other forms of communication
aspects

Avoid indicating • refer to past problems as challenges

own faults
• indicate market association with highly
Name-dropping regarded people and organisations
2. ENHANCING OTHER PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS -
SELF STUDY
• with other people and organisations by
Be involved doing them favours (e.g. sponsorships)

• use compliments honestly

Make others feel good

• with relevant information, annual reports

Be open and honest • When governance and ethics fail?

• but do not discredit other people and

Compete organisations

Be personal with • show genuine interest and attention and know

their needs
people