Perception

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PERCEPTION

PERCEPTION is a mechanism through which people receive, organize and interpret information from their environments. The key to understanding perception is to recognize that it is a unique interpretation of the situation itself, not the situation itself. It is an active psychological process where-in the stimuli are selected and organized into meaningful patterns. Perception is defined as the complex method of obtaining information about our surrounding world, specifically through our senses, and apprehending this information as beliefs. Different people are likely to have somewhat different and sometimes contradictory views or understandings of the same event or person. A person's perception can be thought of as a "filter". Thus, because perception is largely learned, and no one has the same learning and experience, then every person has a unique filter, and the same situations and stimuli may produce very different reactions and behaviors. In an organizational scenario, for example, the perceptual world of a manager is quite different from the perceptual world of the associate, and both may be very different from reality. Thus, the quality or accuracy of a manager's perceptions has a major impact on the quality of any decisions made or actions taken in a given business situation. Perception is more complex and broader than sensation which is the effect of the five senses on human mind. Sensation is a data input & the processed data which gives an Individual a view point is termed perception.

Perceptual world

WE DON'T SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE….

WE SEE THEM AS WE ARE….

- Anais Nain

Since all individuals have own criterion of assigning meanings therefore by definition there isn't anything as the "Real World". Rationality always falls short of perfect perceptions.

As a result a typical "Perception" would add to or take from the real world while processing the inputs. Such a world is called a "Perceptual World".

Sub processes of perception

There are several sub processes of perception. The first important sub process is the stimulus or situation that is present. It is the starting point of perception when a person is confronted with a stimulus or situation. A stimulus refers to raw data or just the sensory Inputs one receives. Hence it is a cognitive process where sensory data acts merely as an input taken from the environment. We tend to select and attend to only some features present in any situation. This helps us avoid dealing with irrelevant information and information overload. Then there are the internal cognitive processes of registration, interpretation and feedback. Then there is the resulting behavior itself, and the environmental consequences of this behavior make up the final part. The physiological ability to hear and see will affect perception. Interpretation is the most significant aspect of perception. Interpretations are largely dependant on a person's learning, motivation and his/her personality. Feedback may influence the perception of a person further. Research has shown that both facial expressions and the specific situation will influence perceptions of certain emotions, such as fear, anger or pain. The behavioral termination of perception is the reaction or behavior, either overt or covert.

SELECTION AND ORGANISATION

We are being constantly bombarded with numerous stimuli. We continually face a m lange of sounds and sights. We tend to select and attend to only some features present in any situation which helps us to deal with irrelevant information and information overload. In some cases, however, individuals may overlook important stimuli.

Various internal and external factors affect perceptual selectivity. These are discussed as follows

1. Intensity- The more intense the external stimuli is, the more likely it is to be perceived. For example, bright packaging and television commercials which are slightly louder than regular programmes. In an organization, a supervisor may raise his/her voice to gain attention. But more complex psychological variables may overcome simple factors. Like, the supervisor might actually be turning the subordinates off instead of gaining their attention.

. Size- The larger the object, the more likely it is to be perceived. Like, a 6-foot 5-inch, 50 pound supervisor may receive more attention from his subordinates than a 5-foot 10-inch, 160 pound supervisor.

. Contrast- The external stimuli that stand out against the background or that are not what people are expecting will receive their attention. A worker with many years of experience will hardly notice the deafening sound of the machines on the factory floor. However, if one or more machines should suddenly come to a halt, the person would immediately notice the difference in the noise level.

4. Repetition- A repeated external stimulus will get more attention than a single one. Advertisers trying to create a unique image of their product that is undifferentiated from its competitors such as aspirin, soap and deodorant rely heavily on repetitious advertising.

5. Motion- People will pay more attention to moving objects in their field of vision than they will to stationary objects. The production line workers, for example, may devote their attention to the line of slowly moving materials they are working on and fail to notice the relatively nice-working conditions like pastel-colored walls, music and air conditioning.

6. Novelty and Familiarity- Either a novel or a familiar external situation can serve as an attention getter. New objects or events in a familiar setting or familiar events in a new setting will draw the attention of the perceiver. Job rotation is an example of this principle. It not only increases attention but also improves employees' acquisition of new skills.

People will select out stimuli or situations from the environment that appeal to, or are compatible with their learning, motivation and personality. A lot of what a person sees in the world is a result of past experience and learning. Even though the past experience may not be relevant to the present situation, it is nevertheless used by the perceiver.

Perceptual Organization focuses on what takes place in the perceptual process once the information from the situation is received. Once we have selected stimuli, we categorize and organize them so that the new material makes sense to us. If possible, we make the new stimuli fit in with the ways we already understand and know the world. If we as managers, for example, see our current employees as being lazy, we will likely see the new employees as lazy too. We organize stimuli in two basic ways. First we perceive stimuli as figures standing out against a background. Such distinctions are particularly influential in performance evaluations. If someone is being interviewed for a job, the people whose interviews are immediately before that person's affect the way in which the interviewer perceives him/her. The previous interview acts as a background against which the current interviewee is assessed.

In addition to perceiving figures against a background, we group discrete stimuli into a pattern.

This is called perceptual grouping. Grouping of stimuli occurs when they are similar, near other stimuli, form a continuous pattern or create a complicated pattern. For example, an office manager may consider all the women as interchangeable and all the men as interchangeable. This underlies the interpretation of stimuli and also contributes to perceptual distortions. We generally tend to group stimuli together by Closure, continuity, proximity or similarity.

• Closure- A person will sometimes perceive a whole when does not actually exist. The person's perceptual process will close the gaps that are unfilled from sensory input. An example of this is the head of a project team who perceived complete agreement among the members on a given project when, in fact, there was opposition from several members. The team leader in this situation closed the existing gaps and perceived complete agreement, when it did not exist.

• Continuity- continuity is closely related to closure. Due to this, a person will tend to perceive continuous lines or patterns. This may lead to inflexible or noncreative thinking on the part of organizational participants. For example, new innovative ideas or designs may not be perceived in a productive process.

• Proximity- A group of stimuli that are close together will be perceived as a whole pattern of parts belonging together. For example, several employees in an organization may be identified as a single group because of physical proximity.

• Similarity- The greater the similarity of the stimuli, the greater the tendency to perceive them as a common group. This applies, for example, to women and minorities.

SOCIAL PERCEPTION

Social perception is a process of trying to perceive, understand and evaluate other peoples (and sometimes our own) intentions, traits, motives, and behaviors. It is also called person perception or social inference. Social perception also involves trying to figure out or "decode" what other people's nonverbal behavior represents.

Characteristics of Perceiver and Perceived

The specific characteristics of the perceiver are as follows

1. Knowing oneself makes it easier to see other others accurately.

. One's own characteristics affect the characteristics one is likely to see in others.

. People who accept themselves are more likely to be able to see favorable aspects of other people.

4. Accuracy in perceiving others is not a single skill.

These features greatly influence how a person perceives others in the environmental situation.

There are also certain characteristics of the person who is being perceived that influences social perception.

1. The status of the person perceived will greatly influence others' perception of the person.

. The person being perceived is usually placed into categories to simplify the viewer's perceptual activities. Two common categories are status and role.

. The visible traits of the person perceived will greatly influence others' perception of the person.

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS

In reality, both selection and organization generally suffer from inaccuracies or distortions. This is due to a prepared mental set influenced by individual dispositions and prior experience.

Cultural influences also affect perception. These are the factors which color our descriptions and cause them to differ form another person's descriptions. Although such biases are normal and human, they can have significant consequences when managers or other organizational members base action on potentially invalid distortions.

There are various types of perceptual distortions. These are as follows

1. Stereotyping

Stereotyping occurs when an individual attributes behaviors or attitudes to a person on the basis of the group or category to which that person belongs. We frequently stereotype members of ethnic groups, women, managers, white collar workers and blue collar workers. It prevents managers from gathering new perspectives and accurately assessing Individual differences at work, contributing to biased or erroneous decision making. So, individuals must gather sufficient information about other people's behavior and attributes to encourage more realistic perceptions. They must also check the conclusions they draw to ensure their validity. They must also differentiate between facts and assumptions in determining the basis of their perceptions.

. Halo Effect

This refers to an individual's letting one salient feature of a person dominate the whole evaluation of that individual. For example, people with good attendance are considered to be responsible and intelligent. A sincere worker is always honest. A stupid action means the person is stupid. It frequently occurs in assessments of employee performances. Thus, it can influence a manager's evaluation of the subordinate's work. Managers must separate appearance from performance, productivity from attendance, personality from creativity. They must know what behaviors and attitudes result in better performance.

. Projections

It is the assignment of personal attributions to other individuals. We defend our egos by projecting our feelings onto others. Projection involves an emotional biasing of perceptions. Fear, hatred, uncertainty, anger, love, deceit or distrust may influence an individual's perceptions. Thus, it compromises a manager's ability to respond to individual differences in the work setting. For example, a manager assumes his needs and subordinates' to be the same. This can be controlled through a high degree of self awareness and willingness to enter the frame of reference of the other person and come to see the situation through his eyes. This is called empathy.

4. Expectancy

This is the tendency to create or find in another situation or individual that which you expected to find in the first place. It leads to expecting behavior from another individual and then perceiving the behavior whether it occurs or not. There is an unconscious expectation that our expectations will be realized. This is also referred to as Pygmalion effect. To counter this, managers should adopt positive and optimistic approaches as opposed to negative and pessimistic approaches to people at work. They should create a warmer interpersonal climate in the organization, give more performance feedback to subordinates, spend more time helping subordinates to learn job skills and give subordinates more opportunities to ask questions.

PERCEPTIONS IN ORGANISATIONS

There are three major things on which perceptions in organizations depend. These are Job Structuring, Flow of communication and Superior-subordinate relationship. In any organization, information is pre-selected, frame of reference is pre-decided, and immediate decision determines perceptions. Therefore patterns of behavior change and the same information is interpreted differently.

Thus, it is very important to deal with distortions. It is imperative to

• Understand that they happen to everyone.

• Be self-reflective and learn to distinguish between assumptions and facts.

• Learn to make decisions based on observation.

• Separate aspects of an individual when you make judgment.

• Decide on criteria and standards for evaluation. Then follow them.

The role of a skilled manager

A good manager does his best to minimize perceptual distortions. Only then can an organization work efficiently. A skilled manager

• Has high level of Self-Awareness.

• Knows about Individual experience & expectations and doesn't put it to others.

• Seeks information from various sources.

• Is Empathetic.

• Avoids Perceptual distortions.

• Avoids Inappropriate Attributions.

• Influences the perception of other people.

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