Chapter 4 - Communicating, Perceiving, and Understanding Flashcards
Why is perception important to the communication process?
Because when we communicate, we don’t just respond to other’s words; we respond to our perceptions of the way they look, sound, smell - and sometimes how they feel.
Selection
The process of choosing which sensory information to focus on.
Organization
The process by which one recognizes what sensory input represents.
Interpretation
The act of assigning meaning to sensory information.
Selective Attention
Consciously or unconsciously attending to just a narrow range of the full array of sensory information available.
Cognitive Representation
The ability to form mental models of the world.
Schemas
Cognitive structures that represent and individual’s understanding of a concept of person.
Prototype
An idealized schema.
Script
A relatively fixed sequence of events that functions as a guide or template for communication or behavior.
Categorization
A cognitive process used to organize information by placing it into larger groupings of information.
Label
A name assigned to a category based on one’s perception of the category.
Stereotyping
Creating schemas that overgeneralize attributes of a specific group.
Frame
A structure that shapes how people interpret their perceptions.
Attribution Theory
Explanation of the processes we use to judge out own and other’s behavior.
Attributional Bias
The tendency to attribute one’s own negative behavior to external causes and one’s positive actions to internal states.
Self-Serving Bias
The tendency to give one’s self more credit than is die when good things happen and to accept too little responsibility for those things that go wrong.
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency to attribute others’ negative behavior to internal causes and positive behaviors to external causes.
How important is the role of interpretation in the perception process?
It’s very important. Our perception of the world will influence how we interpret the things that go on around us.
What factors most influence how individuals interpret events?
The way people interpret their perceptions (framing), and the way we react to things other do. (attribution).
What two cognitive processes help us organize what we perceive?
1) Cognitive Representation
2) Categorization
Is stereotyping “normal”? When is it helpful? When is it harmful?
We all do it. It is helpful when trying to remember facts about a specific group of people, but harmful when we assume that all people within that group hold the same characteristics.
Constructs
Categories people develop to help them organize information.
Cognitive Complexity
The degree to which a person’s constructs are detailed, involved, or numerous.
How do physical differences influence the perception process?
People who can’t hear certain things (like the adult-proof ringtone) are going to perceive things differently than the person who does hear it. The same rings true for all the senses.
