Factors Influencing Perception

by SREE RAMA RAO on APRIL 23, 2008

Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory perceives in
order to give meaning to their environment. However what one perceives can be substantially
di!!erent !rom ob"ective reality. #here need be but there is o!ten disagreement. $or e%ample it&s
possible that all employees in a !irm may view it as great place to wor' ( !avorable wor'ing
conditions interesting "ob alignments good pay e%cellent bene!its an understanding and
responsible management but as most o! us 'nown it&s very unusual to !ind such agreement.
)hy is perception important in the study o! O*+ Simply because people&s behavior is based on
their perception o! what reality is not on reality it sel!. #he world as it is perceived is the world
that is behaviorally important.
Perception is the process by which an individual selects organizes and interprets in!ormation
inputs to create a meaning!ul picture the world. Perception depends not only on the physical
stimuli but also on the stimuli&s relation to the surrounding !ield and on conditions within the
individual. #he 'ey point is that perception can vary widely among individuals e%posed to the
same reality. One person might perceive a !ast,tal'ing salesperson an aggressive and insincere
another as intelligent and help!ul. Each will respond di!!erently to the salesperson.
$actors -n!luencing Perception.
How do we e%plain that individuals may loo' at the same thing yet perceive it di!!erently+ A
number o! !actors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception. #hese !actors can reside
in the perceiver in the ob"ect or target being perceived or in the conte%t o! the situation in which
the perception is made /See *elow0.
$actors that in!luence perception.
Perception
$actors in the perceiver
Attitudes
Motives
-nterests
E%perience
E%pectations
$actors in the situation
#ime
)or' setting
Social setting
$actors in the target
1ovelty
Motion
Sounds
Size
*ac'ground
Pro%imity
Similarity
)hen an individual loo's at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees that
interpretation is heavily in!luenced by the personal characteristics o! the individual perceiver.
Personal characteristics that a!!ect perception included a person&s attitudes personality motives
interest past e%periences and e%pectations. $or instance i! you e%pect police o!!icers to be
authoritative young people to be lazy or individuals holding o!!ice to be unscrupulous you may
peeve them as such regardless o! their cultural traits.
2haracteristics o! the target being observed a!!ect what is perceived. 3oud people are more
li'ely to be noticed in a group than 4uiet ones. So too are e%tremely attractive or unattractive
individuals. *ecause targets are not loo'ed at in isolation the relationship o! a target to its
bac'ground also in!luences perception as does our tendency to group close things and similar
things together. $or instance women people o! color or members o! any other group that has
clearly distinguishable characteristics in terms o! !eatures or color are o!ten perceived as ali'e in
other unrelated characteristics as well.
A shrill voice is never perceived to be one o! authority. Practice some vocal e%ercises to lower
the pitch o! your voice. Here is one to start. Sing ( but do it an octave lower on all your !avorite
songs. Practice this regularly and a!ter a period o! time your voice will lower. People will
perceive you as nervous and unsure i! you tal' too !ast. Also be care!ul not to slow down to the
point where people !eel tempted to !inish your sentences.
#he conte%t in which we see ob"ects or events is also important. #he time at which an ob"ect or
event is seen can in!luence attention as can location light heat or any number o! situational
!actors. $or e%ample at a nightclub on Saturday night you may not notice a 55 year old !emale
dressed to the nines. 6et that same woman so attired !or your Monday morning management
class would certainly catch your attention /and that o! the rest o! the class0. 1either the
perceiver nor the target changed between Saturday night and Monday morning but the situation
is di!!erent.
more at http.77www.citeman.com7589:,!actors,in!luencing,perception.html;i%zz<=>?Ra'Rp
Perception
Perception is the process by which we receive and interpret in!ormation !rom the world around
us. #he world around us consists o! various 'inds and levels o! physical energy. Our
'nowledge o! the world comes through our sense organs which react to these energies.
2ertain wavelengths o! electromagnetic radiation stimulate our eyes. Our ears sense certain
'inds o! mechanical vibrations in the air. Our noses and tongues are sensitive to certain
chemical stimuli. Sense organs in our s'in respond to pressure temperature changes and
various stimuli related to pain. Sense organs in our "oints tendons and muscles are sensitive
to body movement and position.
#he sense organs change the various environmental energies into nervous impulses which
go to the brain. #hrough the psychological process o! perception the patterns o! energies
become 'nown as ob"ects events people and other aspects o! the world.
#he process o! perception does not reveal ob"ects and events o! the world. )e see light and
colour but there is no light or colour in the electromagnetic waves that stimulate the eyes. -n
the same way there is no music or noise in the vibrations that stimulate the ear. #he brain
organizes and interprets nervous impulses !rom the eyes as light and colour and impulses
!rom the ears as sound. #ogether the sense organs and the brain trans!orm physical energy
!rom environmental stimuli into in!ormation about the events around us.
)hen loo'ing at the illustration on this page you may !irst see only a complicated pattern o!
dar' and light areas. As you study the pattern your !irst perception may change particularly i!
you are told that a bearded man is in the picture. A!ter you have seen the man it will be
almost impossible not to see him when you loo' at the picture again.
#his picture emphasizes two important points about perception. $irst stimulation o! the sense
organs alone does not determine the nature o! what is perceived. Second perception is a
dynamic process o! @wor'ing on@ sensory data to produce perceptual ob"ects and events. #he
@wor'@ involves many physical physiological and psychological !actors.
Factors affecting perception
Aarious !actors in!luence what and how we perceive. Our perceptions are in!luenced by the
ways our bodies are structured to receive and process stimuli !rom the environment. Our
perceptions also re!lect our emotions needs e%pectations and learning.
Receptors. Each sensory system such as vision hearing or touch has its own specialized
body parts. #hese parts are called receptors and they change energies !rom the environment
into nervous impulses. #he human eye !or e%ample has two ma"or 'inds o! receptors in the
retina /the light,sensitive part o! the eye0. #hese receptors are called rods and cones. #he
rods respond to the intensity o! light but not to di!!erent !re4uencies o! light /di!!erent colours0.
#he cones do respond to di!!erent !re4uencies o! light and are called colour receptors. #he
rods allow us to see in dim light and the cones enable us to see colours and sharp detail in
bright light. #hus the particular ways that receptors are structured and !unction help
determine the perceptual e!!ects related to them.
The brain. 2ertain physical and !unctional !eatures o! the brain also determine some aspects
o! perception. #he part o! the brain that serves vision has di!!erent 'inds o! cells that respond
only under certain conditions o! stimulation. Some o! these cells respond only when a light
goes o!!. Others respond when a light comes on but they stop responding i! the light stays on.
Such cells also are arranged in special ways in the brain and this !act is related to how we
perceive. $or e%ample some cells are arranged in columns or in clusters. Such arrangements
are related to how we perceive edges and !orms. E%periments suggest that some cells in the
brain allow us to perceive movement. #hus the structure o! the brain is an important element
in perception.
Learning, emotion, and motivation.
Much evidence points to the conclusion that early e%perience learning emotion and
motivation are important in de!ining what and how we perceive. Part o! this accumulating
evidence comes !rom e%periments that compare how people in di!!erent cultures perceive
things. #he perception o! such things as !orm colour pain and touch may di!!er !rom culture
to culture depending on habits and customs and training o! children.
A simple e%ample o! how learning can a!!ect perception is provided by reading the phrases
inside the two triangles in the illustration on the ne%t page. =id you !ail to see the duplicate
word in each phrase+ Most people do and some continue to do so even with many repeated
readings. -n learning to perceive words and sentences we learn not to perceive each letter
and word separately. -nstead we become able to scan the overall pattern and @!ill in@ the
remainder. A poor reader is more li'ely than a good reader to see the duplicate word in each
phrase.
Some illusions are related to learning and past e%perience. An illusion is not a !alse
perception as many people believe but one that is inconsistent with another perception.
Since perception does not literally reveal the environment no sensory system is closer to
some absolute truth than any other. )e tend to chec' visual illusions against touch but touch
can involve illusory e!!ects too. 3oo' at the two triangular patches o! grey containing blac'
and white detail in the illustration on this page. -! you see the patches as being di!!erent
shades o! grey you are e%periencing an illusion. #he patches are the same shade o! grey.
Emotions and motivation can have an important e!!ect on perception. Sometimes a severe
emotional disturbance can prevent perception completely as when emotional shoc' causes
individuals to lose their hearing temporarily. )e are more li'ely to perceive those aspects o!
our environment that are related to our motives. $or e%ample motivation can a!!ect the
perceived characteristics o! ob"ects. #o hungry people !ood may appear larger or more
colour!ul than usual.
Understanding perception
Types of perception.
Perception has three levels o! comple%ity. /B0 detection /50 recognition and /<0 discrimination.
=etection re!ers to whether people can sense that they are being stimulated by some !orm o!
energy. $or e%ample a light may be so dim they can barely detect its presence. Recognition
means being able to identi!y as well as detect a particular pattern o! stimulation.
=iscrimination means being able to perceive one pattern o! stimulation as di!!erent !rom
another. $or e%ample a person may hear slight di!!erences between two similar musical
tones.
#he !ield o! study that deals with levels o! perception is called psychophysics. E%perimental
psychologists investigate the relationships between the physical properties o! stimulus
patterns and the perceived e!!ects o! the stimuli. $or e%ample they may study the relationship
between sound !re4uency and the perceived pitch o! sound.
Principles of perception.
#here are a number o! general principles that help us understand the process o! perception.
One o! the most important is the principle o! closure. -t tells us that we have the general
tendency to perceive things as complete and uni!ied. )e tend to @!ill in@ parts that are missing
or parts that con!orm to an overall impression.
#he principle o! constancy states that despite changes that occur in stimulation we have a
strong tendency to perceive ob"ects as constant in size shape colour and other 4ualities. $or
e%ample an orange will be perceived with its characteristic colour under di!!erent 'inds o!
light.
#he opposite o! the principle o! constancy is also important. Sometimes an ob"ect or pattern o!
stimulation will remain constant but the perceived e!!ect will vary. 3oo' at the grey and blac'
cubes in the illustration on this page. At one moment you will see three complete cubes and
at another you may see !ive.
Another important principle relates to perceptual conte%t. #he perception o! an ob"ect or event
depends in part on the conte%t /surrounding conditions0. 3oo' at the two rectangles containing
the words )orld *oo' in the illustration on this page. #he words are printed with the same in'.
=o they loo' the same+ *ac'ground intensity and colour may a!!ect the colour and intensity o!
elements upon it. #o most people grey surrounded by blac' appears brighter and somewhat
larger. #his e!!ect is called visual induction. 1otice too that the e!!ect is opposite to that
observed with the two grey triangles with blac' and white detail. -n this case the grey with
blac' detail appears dar'er rather than brighter.
Perception is an important aspect of human behaviour.
I have seen people facing many problems; sometimes they are able to solve them and sometimes not. Every person tends to
view things in diferent ways and with their own perspective.
Perception is one of the most important aspects of human behaviour. Depending on how we perceive things, we may see the
glass either as half-empty or as half-full. The more positively we perceive situations and circumstances the more efciently
we are able to avert a crisis. People who tend to see the world in an optimistic manner generally make better leaders and are
able to communicate messages to their co-workers and subordinates in a more positive and more efective way.
PERCEPTI! "!# I!#I$I#U"L %E&"$IUR
@Perception is a process through which people select organize interpret retrieve and respond to
in!ormation.@
Perception is word which means @a process o! 'nowing.@ How do you 'now a reality how you see things
and interpret them. -t may be related to reality or may not.
Three concepts of personality'
2ommunication has many !orms. Everyone who communicates through a picture verbal design or with a
landscape has its three meanings.
()* Intended meanings, the meanings which - want to convey to the audience.
(+* #he second meaning is dictionary meaning e.g. communication material words - have used.
(,* Most important is -perceived meanings- the meanings that you are getting .your meanings will b
based on meanings that you are getting !rom the other personCs speech.
So perceived meanings are critically important e.g. during a lecture many a time what - say you donCt ta'e it
the way - said and this leads to misunderstanding. #he di!!erence between intended and perceived
meanings is called misunderstanding.
Life .orld
-n sociology there is a concept "life world". Every person has a di!!erent li!e world. )hat are his li!e
e%periences+ =ue to di!!erent e%periences a person views di!!erent things in di!!erent way e.g. - was an
M.A student. #he psychology pro!essor brought a vague painting and placed it on the wall. #hen he as'ed
the student to write a story on it. #here were 5D students and all o! them write a di!!erent story. #he idea is
actually depicted di!!erently by all the students because everybody interpreted a same piece o! in!ormation
according to his7her own e%periences although the source o! in!ormation was same. @#ruth and $alse@
may be very important but in terms o! determining the behaviors o! the individuals @perception@ is
important but not the truth e.g. a young boy and man came home late at night and thought that i! - will
'noc' at door my dad will be angry so he climbed the gate and went in "ust to avoid his dadCs anger. =ad
thought he is a thie! he pic'ed up the gun and he shot him dead. 1ow what is important more is @truth or
perception@. -n this case it is clear that perception played a role but truth was son but his action was due to
perception. So it is perception which determines individualCs behavior not the truth.
Perception o! individual is reality !or that individual. -! you understand this thing you would 'now that
source o! ma"or con!licts among people is due to di!!erent perception o! di!!erent individuals.
)henever you get a message you try to understand that this message has some intended meanings and
these meanings came !rom culture or !rom your own socialization e.g. a delegation !rom china went to
2anada during lunch some 2hinese too' a burp at the lunch the 2anadians !elt a disgust and thought that
2hinese are ill mannered and donCt 'now how to behave in a meeting. *ut someone other may understand
a di!!erent meaning by that burp and may thought that 2hinese are appreciating !ood by ta'ing burp.
2hinese are conveying it good about to their host but the 2anadians are ta'ing it negatively. #his is a
di!!erence between intended and perceived meaning. Source o! misunderstanding is the gap between
intended and perceived meaning.
#he gateway arch in mono 3ouis height and width are same B:5 m but it is "ust a vertical horizontal
illusion that which cause people to see vertical lines longer as compare to horizontal lines. - too' this slide
!rom encyclopedia. -t shows that the height is taller than the width. -t is "ust an illusion. As it is illusionary
to see such a thing and you get a di!!erent message.
9
/tim0l0s control is said to occur when an organism behaves in one way in the presence o! a given
stimulus and another way in its absence. $or e%ample the presence o! a stop sign increases the
probability that @bra'ing@ behavior will occur. #ypically such behavior is brought about by rein!orcing the
behavior in the presence o! one stimulus and omitting rein!orcement in the presence o! another stimulus.
Many theorists believe that all behavior is under some !orm o! stimulus control.
EBF
Aerbal behavior is a
complicated assortment o! behaviors with a variety o! controlling stimuli.
E5F
Characteristics1edit2
#he controlling e!!ects o! stimuli are seen in 4uite diverse situations and in many aspects o! behavior. $or
e%ample a stimulus presented at one time may control responses emitted immediately or at a later timeG
two stimuli may control the same behaviorG a single stimulus may trigger behavior A at one time and
behavior * at anotherG a stimulus may control behavior only in the presence o! another stimulus and so
on. #hese sorts o! control are brought about by a variety o! methods and they play a large role in
systematic accounts o! behavioral processes.
E<F
-n simple practical situations as i! !or e%ample i! one were training a dog one might aim !or a restrictive
!orm o! stimulus control such that

#he behavior occurs immediately when the conditioned stimulus is given.

#he behavior never occurs in the absence o! the stimulus.

#he behavior never occurs in response to some other stimulus.

1o other behavior occurs in response to this stimulus.

E9F
/tim0l0s Inp0t' "ttention and /et
Perception is the way that sensory information is chosen and transformed so that it has
meaning. Once sensory input starts, an individual uses perceptual processes to select
among sensory input stimuli and to organize them so that relevant action can occur. (In the
computer analogy, the process of perception would represent use of both hardware and
software in the central nervous system; many of the perceptual processes are innate
hardwarebut some may be modifiedsoftware.)
Attention. oo many events occur simultaneously in the environment to pay attention to all
of them at once, soselective attention is used to focus on those stimuli relevant to current
activity. (!or e"ample, you might not generally pay much attention to wind direction, but
you do if you#re flying a $ite or hitting a golf ball.)
Set. In terms of perception, a set, a predisposition to respond in a particular fashion, may
be one of several types.
Motor set. %hen attending to a stimulus, an individual organizes muscular
responses, a motor set, to be ready for the particular attention situation. !or
e"ample, a golfer getting ready to hit a golf ball adopts a particular posture and a
practiced way of holding the golf club; similarly, members of bas$etball teams adopt
particular stances, motor sets, as they stand lined up and ready to &ump while waiting
for the free throw.
Perceptual set. ' perceptual set is the readiness to interpret a stimulus in a
certain way. !or e"ample, if you have &ust run a red traffic light, you might be more
inclined to view a flashing light as a police car than as &ust a bright turn signal. ((ote
that perceptual sets occur in all of the sensory modalities, not &ust vision.)
Mental set. ' mental set is a predisposition to thin$ about a situation or a problem
in a specific way. !or e"ample, a student#s poor performance on a math assignment
might be because of lac$ of preparation or because of the mental set )I &ust can#t do
well on math problems.*
Stimulus characteristics that affect set. ' variety of stimulus characteristics affect
perception and the set that is formed.
Stimulus intensity. If other stimulus factors are comparable, a moreintense
stimulus attracts more attention than does a more subtle one. !or e"ample, a loud
siren gets more attention than a faint one.
Stimulus changes. Stimulus changes elicit more attention than does sameness or
monotony. ' flashing light, for e"ample, stands out in a horizon of steady city lights.
Stimulus magnitude. Stimulus magnitude is also a factor in attracting attention.
!or e"ample, a large advertising billboard attracts more attention than a small one.
Stimulus repetition. ' repeated stimulus affects attention; the public +uic$ly
recognizes a product seen in repeated advertisements.
Characteristics of Perceiver that affect social preception
In the last blog, we looked at the model of social perception. In today's blog we look at the
characteristic of a perceiver and how it can affect social perception.
There are several factors of the perceiver which affect social perception, but for discussion sake in
this blog we would limit ourselves to understanding the influence of the following characteristics:
amiliarity
!ttitude
"ood
#elf$Concept
Cognitive #tructure
Familiarity with the target is when we have multiple observations of the target. These observations
help us form an impression about the individual. %hen we get any new information about the
individual, we tend to screen out the information which is inconsistent with what we believe the
person is like.
Attitude forms another ma&or influence on our social perception $ say for e'ample, we have a
department in an organi(ation where we find only men working in there and mentally we have
formed an attitude. This attitude would begin influencing us when we are taking an interview)
Mood plays a very strong influence on the way we perceive someone $ we think very differently
when we are happy from when we are upset. %hen we are in a positive mood, we tend to make a
positive opinion of the people we meet)
!nother factor that can affect social perception is the perceiver*s self-concept. !n individual with a
positive self$concept tends to notice positive attributes in another person and a similar aspect for the
person with negative self$concept. ! greater understanding of self allows us to have more accurate
perception of others.
Cognitive structure refers to the thought pattern of an individual. #ome of us tend to perceive
physical traits before other traits, while others tend to focus on central traits. Cognitive comple'ity
allows a person to perceive multiple characteristics of another personal rather than attending to a
few traits.