Interpersonal Communication: Exam I, Chapter 3

Guidelines for Improving Perception and Communication: Guard Against the Fundamental Attribution Error

This occurs when we overestimate the internal causes of others' undesirable behavior and underestimate the external causes and when we underestimate the internal causes of our own failings or bad behaviors and overestimate the external causes. Looking for external factors that influence others' communication and internal factors that influence your own communication checks our tendency to make fundamental attribution errors.

Cognitive complexity

Refers to the number of personal constructs use, how abstract they are, and how elaboraely they interact to shape perceptions. If you think of people only as nice or not nice, you have a limited range for perceiving others.

Locus

Attributes a person's actions to internal factors or external factors

Interpretation

WE assign meaning by interpreting what we have noticed and organised. interpretation is the subjective process of explaining our perceptions in ways that make sense to us.

Social Location

We are affected not only by the culture as a whole but by particular social groups to which we belong.

Guidelines for Improving Perception and Communication: Check Perceptions with Others

We need to check our perceptions with others. It helps people arrive at mutual understands of each other and their relationships. Asking the other person if the perceive the same thing and this encourages discussion.

Selection process of Perception

We select to attend to certain stimuli based on a number of factors since we cant attend to everything in our environment. We notice things that Stand out due to it being larger or more intense.

Guidelines for Improving Perception and Communication: Distinguish between Facts and Inferences

A fact is based on observation, An inference involves an interpretation that goes beyond the facts. We make statement that sounds factual, and we may then perceive it as factual, to avoid this tendency substitute more tentative words like may or seems. We risk misperceptions if we don't distinguish our inferences from facts

Attributions

An explanation of why something happened or why someone acts a certain way. Attributions have four dimensions.

Specificity

Explains behavior in terms of whether the behavior has global implications that apply in most or all situations or specific implications that apply only in certain situations or under certain conditions.Specificity concerns the breadth of the explanation.

Organization process of Perception

How we organize experience is Constructivism, which states that we organize and interpret experience by applying cognitive structures called Schemata.

Four types of Schemata

Prototypes Personal constructs Stereotypes Scripts

Standpoint

A point of view that grows out of political awareness of the social location of a group, the material,social and symbolic conditions common for members of a social group. People who belong to powerful, high status social groups have a vested interest in preserving the system that gives them privileges, they are unlikely yo perceive its flaws and inequities. Those belonging to less-privileged groups are able to see inequities and discrimination.

Stereotype

A predictive generalization applied to a person or situation.Based on the category in which we place someone or something and how that person or thing measures up against the personal constructs we apply, we predict what he, she, or it will do. Stereotypes don't necessarily reflect the actual groups to which they refer. Instead, stereotypes are based on our perceptions of groups or on social perspectives that we've internalized. Stereotypes may be accurate or inaccurate.

Age

Age is another factor that influences our perceptions. Older individuals have a broader perspective than the newer generation on what a hard life is. Issues that seem overwhelming to a teenager are more often manageable to a 30 year old who has more experience meeting and dealing with life's challenges.

Guidelines for Improving Perception and Communication: Avoid Mind Reading

Assuming we understand what another person thinks, feels, or perceives. When we mind read, we act as though we know whats on another person's mind and this can get us into trouble. We may misinterpret others. When we mind read, we impose our perspectives on others instead of allowing them to say what they think. This can cause misunderstandings and resentment because most of us prefer to speak for ourselves.

Implicit Personality Theory

Collection of unspoken and sometimes unconscious assumptions about various qualities fit together in human personalities. Someone that is outgoing may be more friendly, confident and fun.

Person-Centeredness

Entails abstract thinking and use of a wide range of schemata. The ability to perceive another as a unique individual.

Stability

Explains actions as the result of stable factors that wont change over time or unstable factors that may or will be different at another time. Stability concerns time ( whether the reason is temporary or enduring)

Cognitive Abilities

How elaborately we think about situations and people, and our personal knowledge of others, affect how we perceive them.

Responsibility

How we account for others' actions affects our perceptions of them and our relationships with them. we can feel more or less positive toward others depending on our interpretation of why they act as they do. (within personal control) versus (Beyond Personal control) Not trying hard enough versus taking medication that prevents a certain action

Physiology

If you are tired or stressed, you are likely to perceive things more negatively than you normally world. A playing insult from a friend might anger you when you are feeling down, but wouldn't bother you if you were in a better mood. Medical conditions are another physiological influence on perceptions. Taking certain drugs may affect your thinking make you severely depressed and paranoid at one time and happy at another point.

Dimensions of Attribution

Locus Stability Specificity Responsibility

Personal Constructs

Mental yardstick we use to measure a person or situation along a bipolar dimension of judgment. Personal constructs let us make more detailed assessments of particular qualities of people and other phenomena. Intelligent--Not Intelligent, Kind--Not Kind, Assertive--Not Assertive.

Guidelines for Improving Perception and Communication: Guard Against the Self-Serving Bias

Observe yourself to see whether you attribute your failures or adverse behaviors to factors beyond your control or whether you attribute your accomplishments to your own efforts. We are also inclined to notice what we do and less aware of what others do. (Wife only sees what housework she does and not the husband's contributions) Just as we tend to judge ourselves generously, we may also be inclined to judge others too harshly.

Guidelines for Improving Perception and Communication: Monitor Labels

Once we label our perceptions, we may respond to our own labels rather than to actual phenomena. If this happens, we may communicate in insensitive and inappropriate ways. Based on subjective and partial perceptions, we may accidentally treat them in that manner. Calling some selfish, we may act negatively against them. Our labels reflect our perceptions of phenomena and sensitivity to the language others prefer, especially when we describe their identities.

Social Media and Perception

Our choices of social media shape our perceptions of events, issues, and people Our cultural memberships influence the content of our digital and online communication The relationship between social media and our perceptions and expectations of time. Expecting a reply instantly is a western concept. Our perception of time is drastically different than those from 50 years ago who waited weeks upon weeks for replies.

Roles

Our perceptions also are shaped by roles. Both the training we receive to fulfill a role and the actual demands of the role affect what we notice and how we interpret and evaluate the role.

Guidelines for Improving Perception and Communication: Recognize that All perceptions are partial and subjective

Out perceptions are always partial and subjective. They are partial because we cannot perceive everything and they are subjective because they are shaped by our physiology, culture, standpoint, social roles, cognitive abilities and personal experiences. A film you think is hilarious may be boring to a friend.

Attribution Errors

Self-Serving bias- people tend to construct attributions that serve our personal interests. for example you might say you did well on a test because you are a smart person. we may blame external factors if we loss at a game or do poorly on on an exam. *Fundamental Attribution error*- We tend to overestimate the internal values of others' undesirable behaviors and underestimate the external causes. We are likely to underestimate the internal causes of our own misdeeds and failures and overestimate the external causes.

Prototype

The clearest or most representative example of some category. Examples: If Jane is the best friend you've ever known, then Jane is your prototype of a friend. Prototypes help you decide who else fits in that particular category. Prototypes organize our perceptions by allowing us to place people and other phenomena in broad categories.

Expectations

expectations affect our perception as well. Being told certain qualities of another person will cause you to have expectations on how that individual will be like so it changes our perception of him compared to if we didn't know anything about the individual. Having expectations effects us positively or negatively towards the stimuli.

Culture

Culture influences our perceptions. In modern American culture, we put an emphasize on fast, almost instant actions. in other countries, People spend more time talking and living life.

Scripts

A script is a guide to action. Scripts consists of sequences of activities that are expected of us and others in particular situations. They are based on our experiences and observations of interaction in various contexts. A script is how we do a certain action like greeting friends or professors. Scripts are useful in guiding us through many of our interactions

Empathy

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

Perception

The active process of creating meaning by selecting, organizing. and interpreting people, objects, events, situations, and other phenomena. Perception is an active process where we actively work to make sense of ourselves, others, and interactions.