MIDTERM 3 STUDY GUIDE need key terms SOCIAL PERCEPTION AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Perception A cognitive process that enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings Recognition is one of this process s major functions Social perception The type we are concerned about four stage information processing sequence Stages are as follows Social information processing model Environmental stimuli information salient interpretation categorization schemas scripts 2 Encoding and Simplification 1 Selective attention awareness information categories stereotypes when stereotypes occur people 4 Retrieval and Repose decisions bias errors 3 Storage and Retention memory different types semantic episodic event Judgments and decisions attributions ratings judgments Stage 1 Selective Attention Awareness Attention the process of becoming consciously aware of something or someone Can be focused on information either from the environment or from memory i e when you re thinking about something else when reading this textbook People usually pay attention to salient stimuli or when it stands out from its People have more tendency to pay attention to negative rather than positive context information Stage 2 Encoding and Simplification Cognitive Categories perceivers assign pieces of information to categories or a number of objects that are considered equivalent in order to interpret or translate raw materials into mental representations Schema representation of a person s mental picture or summary of a particular event or a type of stimulus Ex I picture a sports car as being small red with two doors Therefore I would associate all small red two door cars as being sports cars Stereotype an individual s set of beliefs about the characteristics or attributes of a group People use this in encoding to organize and simplify information Not always negative Used to differentiate a particular group from other groups Not effortful Stage 3 Storage and Retention long term memory Event memory describe sequences of events in well known situations both specific and general Semantic memory refers to general knowledge about the world serving as a mental dictionary of concepts Concepts are stored as schemata Person memory contain information about individuals or groups more likely to remember something about a person if it has characteristics similar to something stored in the compartments of this memory Stage 4 Retrieval and Response Happens in hiring performance appraisal evaluations of leadership Should be considered when trying to communicate and influence others and as the cause of counterproductive work behaviors and physical psychological well being Implicit Cognition any thoughts or beliefs that are automatically activated from memory without our conscious awareness leads to bias without realizing it Biases and Errors Leniency Halo Error Recency Effect tendency to avoid all extreme judgments and rate things as a rater forms an overall impression about an object and then uses that A personal characteristic that leads to someone consistently evaluating other people or objects in a very positive fashion Ex someone who hates to say negative things about others impression to bias ratings about the object Ex rating a professor high on everything because we like them generally Central Tendency Error average or neutral tendency to remember recent information Ex giving a professor poor ratings because the last lecture was bad when the lectures for the 12 weeks before it were great of recently observed people Ex rating a good professor average because you compared them with the best 2 professors you ve had in college reflects one s tendency to attribute another person s behavior to his or her personal characteristics as opposed to situational factors This bias causes perceivers to ignore important environmental forces that often significantly affect behavior success than for failure tendency to evaluate people by comparing them with characteristics represents one s tendency to take more personal responsibility for Fundamental Attribution BIAS Self Serving bias Contrast Effect Strictness error Attribution Causal Attributions suspected or inferred causes of behavior o We constantly formulate cause and effect explanations for our own and others behavior often self serving o Important in organizational behavior a manager might train an individual if poor performance is attributed to lack of ability but would reprimand them if attributed to lack of behavior Attribution Theory An attribution is made as to whether action s and or behavior s resulted from internal factors e g ability amount of work or external factors e g task difficulty This attribution is based on the consensus distinctiveness and consistency of the observed behavior Can be made for good OR poor performance outcomes Kelley s Model of Attribution people make causal attributions after gathering information about the consensus distinctiveness and consistency dimensions of behavior o Attributed to external causes overly difficult task High consensus high distinctiveness low consistency o Attributed to internal causes employee s personal characteristics Low consensus low distinctiveness high consistency o Consensus her peers People Comparison of an individual s behavior with that of his or High when one acts like the rest of the group Low one acts differently from group o Distinctiveness her behavior on other tasks Tasks Comparing a person s behavior on one task with his or High the individual has performed the task in question in a significantly different manner than he or she has performed other tasks Low stable performance or quality from one task to another Time Judging if the individual s performance on a given task is o Consistency consistent over time High a person performs a certain task the same way time after time Low unstable performance of a task over time Core Self Evaluation broad personality trait comprised of four narrower traits 1 Self esteem a person s belief about his or her own self worth 2 Self efficacy a person s belief about his or her chances of successfully accomplishing a specific task over one s environment a Learned helplessness the severely debilitating belief that one has no control 3 Emotional stability one of the BIG 5 personality traits a person s tendency to be relaxed secure not worry not experience negative emotions under pressure etc a Self monitoring high self monitoring means you know how to behave and see yourself as
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