Takeoneof theHarvard perception tests:
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.htmlthat are designed to reveal implicit bias in how we perceive people based on cultural affiliations.
You may take any of the tests linked above, except for the "Presidents" test.
The test you take may not accurately reflect your perceptions of yourself but is a tool designed to make you think about your perceptions.
Please write a paragraph consisting of 8 to 10 well thought out, complex sentences on your experience with taking one of the tests. (By "complex" I simply mean that if you are writing the minimum of 8 sentences, none your sentences should be, for example, 5-word sentences. Make them thoughtful). You do not have to share what your results were if you don't want to.
However, you must addressat leasttwo of the following questions:
- How accurate was it for you? Explain your answer.
- Were you skeptical of the results? Explain your answer.
- How has it made you think differently about perceptions, biases and how they are impacted by cultural identities?
- Since everyone has perceptional biases, where do we learn these?
- How do you think can we overcome our perception biases?
Interpersonal Communication & the Perception Process Interpersonal Communication & the Perception Process Agenda Perception Process Selection Organization Interpretation Schemata Attributions self-serving bias InGroupers and Outgroupers Selection, Organization, and Interpretation Perception Perception: “The process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information from our senses. We rely on perception to constantly make sense of everything and everyone in our environment.” (p.63, 5e) Selection Selection: “focusing attention on certain sights, sounds, tastes, touches, or smells in our environment” (p.64 5e). Salience Salience is related to selection “When something is salient it seems especially noticeable and significant” (p.64, 5e) Something is salient when It is visually or audibly stimulating “if our goals or expectations lead us to view it as signficnat” If it “deviates from our expectations” Selection Intensity Change/contrast Internal factors (i.e. Motives) Emotional States All of these factors = salience Organization Taking the information you have selected and “[structuring] it into a coherent pattern in your mind” (p.64, 5e) Punctuation Related to organization Punctuation: “structuring the information you’ve selected into a chronological sequence that matches how you experienced the order of events” (p.64, 5e) Interpretation Assigning meaning to the information you have selected and organized Cognitive Schemata Cognitive Schemata Cognitive frameworks (think filters through which we see the world) Schemata = plural Schema = singular What’s happening here? How do you know? Write down the following in your notes: What is happening At least 3 things you see in the picture that makes you think you know what is happening here Schema: Example What is happening in these pictures? Schemata: Example What is happening in the pictures on the previous slide ? How can we recognize what is happening from still images? What elements do they share that make them recognizable to us? Schemata: Example We can recognize each of these differing pictures as marriage proposals because we select various elements from the photos, and organize them into a recognizable, preexisting structure that means “marriage proposal” Schemata Defined “The knowledge we draw on when interpreting interpersonal communication resides in schemata, mental structures that contain information defining the characteristics of various concepts, as well as how those characteristics are related to each other” (p.65, 5e) Schmata: Contributing factors Expectation Personal Experience Assumptions about human behavior All of these = Schemata Schemata We develop schematas for “individual people, groups of people places, events, objects, and relationships.” The textbook gives the example of a marriage proposal Kelly had preexisting knowledge and expectations of what a marriage proposal is and should look like, how it should play out, what the people involved should do That enabled her to interpret Steve’s proposal as a proposal That’s also how you were able to interpret the pictures on the previous slides Schemata Defined “mental structures that contain information defining the characteristics of various concepts, as well as how those characteristics are related to each. Each of us develops schemata for individual people, groups of people, places, events, objects, and relationships” (65, 5e). Factors that influence perception Culture and perception “people raised in different cultures have different knowledge in their schemata, so they interpret one another’s communication in different ways” (p.70, 5e) Ingroupers and outgroupers Ingroupers those who share you’re your basic cultural beliefs, attitudes, and values People you perceive as basically similar to you Outgroupers People who you do not perceive as fundamentally similar to you Gender Recent research has found little differences in the neurological workings of men’s brains vs women’s brains (p. 72, 5e) Research shows that in interpersonal communication “men and women respond in a similar manner 99% of the time” (p.72, 5e). Gender and Perception “People are socialized to believe that men and women communicate differently” People tend to have preexisting ideas (schemata) about how women vs men communicate They expect women to talk more about feelings, to talk more about “frivolous” things (like gossip), etc But research has found that these differences are primarily a matter of perception than actual differences in communication P.72, 5e Attributions “Creat[ing] explanations for others’ comments or behaviors” (p.65, 5e). Why we think someone did something Fundamental attribution error Fundamental attribution error: “our tendency to attribute others’ behaviors solely to internal causes (the kind of person they are), rather than to the social or environmental forces affecting them.” “We overestimate the influence of the person and underestimate the significant of [their[ immediate environment” (p. 67, 5e) Actor-observer effect “tendency of people to make external attributions regarding their own behaviors” (p.68, 5e). Usually when something goes wrong Self-serving bias On the other hand, when something goes right, we are more likely to make internal attributions, believing we and we alone (rather than external and environmental factors) are responsible for our success p.68, 5e Social Construction The perception process is related to social construction—how we create our reality through communication Social construction: we create our reality through interactions with others (communication). This really impacts us as we think about culture and different relationships with others. Recap Today we went over the 3 parts of the perception process Selection Organization Interpretation We also covered how cognitive schemata help us to organize and interpret information Then we covered various factors that influence perception, including: culture, gender, who we categorize and ingroupers and outgroupers, attributions and self-serving bias