CMST-1061 Chapter 3

expectancy violation theory

A theory claiming that when our expectations are violated, we become more cognitively alert as we struggle to understand and cope with unexpected behaviors.

True of False: Perception is an active process

True

perception

an active process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting people, objects, events, situations, and activities

attribution

an explanation of why things happen or why people act as they do; not necessarily correct interpretations of others and their motives

Improving Perceiving Skills

1. Avoid mind-reading 2. Check perceptions of others 3. Distinguish facts from Inference and Judgments 4. Monitor the Self-Serving Bias

Selection

1. Choosing from among qualified applicants to hire into an organization 2. Our needs, interests, and motives influence what we choose to notice

4 dimensions of attribution theory

1. Locus - internal - external 2. Stability - stable - unstable 3. Specificity - specific - Global 4. Responsibility - Within personal control - Beyond personal control

4 schemata have been identified:

1. prototypes 2. personal constructs 3. stereotypes 4. scripts

Perception consists of 3 interrelated processes:

1. selection 2. organization 3. interpretation

social community

A group of people who live within a dominant culture yet also belong to another social group or groups that share values, understandings, and practices distinct from those of the dominant culture.

judgment

a belief or opinion based on observations, feelings, assumptions, or other nonfactual phenomena

personal construct

a bipolar mental yardstick that allows us to measure people and situations along bipolar dimensions of judgement, such as "honest-dishonest"

prototype

a knowledge structure that defines the clearest or most representative example of some category

stereotype

a predictive generalization about a person or situation

individualism

a predominantly Western value that regards each person as unique, important, and to be recognized for her or his individual qualities and behavior

positive visualization

a technique used to enhance success in a variety of situations by teaching people to visualize themselves being effective and successful

constructivism

a theory that holds that we organize and interpret experience by applying cognitive structures called schemata

Attribution is the act of explaining why something happens or why a person acts a particular way. Select one: a. True b. False

a. True

Cognitive schemata include all of the following EXCEPT __________. Select one: a. scripts b. prototypes c. abstractions d. stereotypes e. personal constructs

c. abstractions

The active process of selecting, organizing and interpreting people, objects, events, situations, and activities is known as __________ Select one: a. empathy b. cognitive schemata c. perception d. self-serving bias e. prototypes

c. perception

schemata

cognitive structures we use to organize and interpret experiences; there are 4 types: prototypes, personal constructs, stereotypes, and scripts

Which of the following is a prototype? Select one: a. how a co-worker measures up on the dimension of intelligent-unintelligent b. your idea about how you should act in specific situations with a co-worker c. the dictionary definition of a co-worker d. the person who is the best example of a co-worker to you e. your expectation of how a co-worker will behave

d. the person who is the best example of a co-worker to you

scripts

define expected or appropriate sequences of action in particular settings

The ability to perceive another as a unique individual is called __________. Select one: a. intrapersonal perception b. intelligence c. personal construct theory d. visualization e. person-centeredness

e. person-centeredness

cognitive schemata

mental structures people use to organize and interpret experience

empathy

the ability to feel with another person, to feel what he or she feels in a situation

person-centeredness

the ability to perceive another as a unique and distinct individual apart from social roles and generalizations

mind reading

the assumption that we understand what another person thinks or how another person perceives something

culture

the beliefs, values, understandings, practices, and ways of interpreting experience that are shared by a group of people

cognitive complexity

the number of mental constructs an individual uses, how abstract they are, and how elaborately they interact to create perceptions

monitoring

the observation and regulation of one's own communication

interpretation

the subjective process of creating explanations for what we observe and experience

self-serving bias

the tendency to attribute our positive actions and successes to stable, global, internal influences that we control and to attribute negative actions and failures to unstable, specific, external influences beyond our control

Organization

we organize our perception in meaningful ways