Chapter 6: Perceptions and Individual Decision Making Flashcards
perception
a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions to give meaning to their environment
factors that influence perception
perceiver (sometimes we see and hear what we want, not what is true), target (the characteristics of the target, the relationship of a target to its background influences perception), context (the time at which we seen an object or vent can influence our attention, as can location, light, heat, or situational factors).
attribution theory
an attempt to explain the ways we judge people differently, depending on the meaning we attribute to a behavior, such as determining whether an individual’s behavior is internally or externally caused
fundamental attribution error
the tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgements about the behavior of others
self-serving bias
the tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors and put the blame for failures on external factors
selective perception
the tendency to choose to interpret what one sees based on one’s interests, background, experience, and attitudes
halo effect
the tendency to draw a positive general impression about an individual based on a single characteristic
horns effect
the tendency to draw a negative general impression about an individual based on a single characteristic
contrast effect
evaluations of a person’s characteristics that is affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics
stereotyping
judging someone based on one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs
self fulfilling prophecy
a situation in which a person inaccurately perceives a second person and the resulting expectations cause the second person to behave in ways consistent with the original perception
decisions
choices made from among two or more alternatives
problem
a discrepancy between the current state of affairs and some desired state; it requires us to consider alternative courses of action
rational
characterized by making consistent, value maximizing choices within specified constraints
rational decision making model
a decision making model that describes how individuals should behave to maximize some outcome
bounded rationality
a process of making decisions by constructing simplified models that extract essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity
intuitive decision making
an unconscious process created out of distilled experience
overconfidence bias
we tend to be overconfident about our abilities and the abilities of others
anchoring bias
a tendency to fixate on initial information and fail to adequately adjust for subsequent information
confirmation bias
the tendency to seek information that reaffirms past choices and to discount information that contradicts past judgements
availability bias
the tendency for people to base their judgements on information that is readily available to them
escalation of committment
an increased commitment to a previous decision despite negative information. this usually occurs when individuals feel responsible for the outcome. the fear of personal failures even biases the way we search for and evaluate information so that we choose only information that supports our dedication
randomness error
the tendency of individuals to believe that they can predict the outcome of random events
risk aversion
the tendency to prefer a sure thing over a risky outcome
