Interpersonal Comm Midterm 2 Study Guide Perception Perception o The process by which you become aware of things in the world through your senses o Process by which you become aware of people and interpersonal messages Sight hearing smell taste touch Interpersonal Perception Based on you and the outside world An active process o Process by which we create meaning 5 stages of perception stimulation organization interpretation evaluation memory recall 1st stage Stimulation o Your sense organs encounter a stimulus o Novel loud large stimuli attract attention o Change attracts attention o What we notice depends on our motives needs culture o Elements of culture can direct you to understanding social situations or ways o Ex Asian culture age is important elders are respected age is what people pay o Ex Yoga class example about girl thinking staring guy is into her attention to Selective exposure Selective perception o All in the Family Study Expose yourself to people or messages that confirm your beliefs Interpret people and message in a way that confirms your beliefs Who will watch the show more How will the show be interpreted Survey that measured viewing reactions and prejudice 60 admired Archie more than Mike More thought that mike of the object of ridicule Most didn t see it as a satire High prejudiced people has higher viewing liked the show more admired Archie thought Archie made more sense won arguments Low prejudiced people though Mike made more sense won arguments Conclusion viewers interpreted the program in accordance to their own beliefs 2nd stage Organization o Organize the information your senses picked up on o Organizational rules Proximity Things that are physically close to one another comprise a unit Ex Dorm room names on doors automatically group roommates together Physical similarity blonde haired girls in picture Temporal things that occur at the same time go together Contrast we process the differences and place them into separate categories o Schemas information Mental templates or structure that help you organize new and existing Based on own experiences Prototypes stereotypes are schemas Ex People and majors the Doorman We have schemas for people things places groups etc o Scripts A type of schema An organized body of information about some action event or procedure Rules governing events Ex Script we follow when we go to restaurant having idea of how restaurant is like how everyone is dressed or what type of food there is schema more specific idea like what you will say to the hostess script Ex To stop and chat clip do you stop and have long convo short convo or just say hi and keep walking 3rd stage Interpretation evaluation o Your evaluation of people events as good bad inappropriate justified etc o Subjective not everyone will evaluate or interpret the same way o Based on experiences values desires expectations gender o Based on rules schemata scripts 4th stage Memory o Stores interpretations and evaluations o Not always an accurate foreshadowing recall o Information is added some is discarded 5th stage Recall o Often flawed bias information during storage or combining memories together o We usually recall information that is consistent with our schemas o Ex Female doctor male nurse in TV showed kids and asked Qs after about these situations kids recalled that males are doctors and females are nurses stuck with stereotypes Process of Perception o Implicit personality theory certain traits are influential on our judgment of people Tells us what characteristics go together The Halo effect o Self fulfilling prophecy Pygmalion effects Teachers positive info about students improved students performance o Primacy regency impressions Primacy effect when what comes first in time is most influential first impressions Regency effect when what comes last in time is most influential last impressions o Consistency The tendency to maintain balance in our perceptions and attitudes Cognitive dissonance mismatch between attitudes and behaviors Ex Know and have been told you are a generous person something happens at store and asks for a donation and you say no inconsistency of your attitudes and thoughts about yourself Resolving cognitive dissonance rationalizing your actions to yourself o Attribution The process by which we try to explain motivations We question our and others control over behaviors Self serving bias we take credit for the positive and deny responsibility for the negative Fundamental attribution error not really understanding the situation Ex Coffee comic husband thinks that good coffee came from coffee maker and bad coffee came from wife Four dimensions of Attributions o Locus internal or external what can explain what happened External person is having a bad day and is sick Internal they are just a grouchy type of person o Stability stable or unstable new change or over change time o Specificity specific or global apply in most situations o Responsibility within personal control or beyond personal Example I failed the exam control My roommate was upset and needed help external attribution This is a one time thing unstable situation This is specific to my roommate specific attribution I couldn t help it beyond my control responsibility attribution Example I did well on the exam I am a smart person internal stable attribution I am a good student global attribution I studied hard for the test personal control responsibility attribution Influences on Perception Physiology hearing seeing noise in the environment Age Culture westerns perception of quick higher paced time males genuine debate female threatening debate Roles different factors become important in different roles controlling parents na ve kids Interpersonal Perceptions Negotiation process by which communications influence each other s perceptions via communication trying to convince others that your version of the world is the accurate one o Interpersonal communication is like an exchange of stories or narratives o Every situation can be explained by more than one narrative o Shared narratives lead to more satisfaction happiness with relational partners o Creating these narrative is an interactive process o Ex Parents arguing child can construct analysis of what happened o Ex Friend and you discuss party blend both narratives together to get one final outcome of party Standpoint Theory and of specific individuals those with less power o Describes how a person s position in society shapes his