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2: Perceiving and Understanding

  • Page ID
    251078
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    Learning Objectives

    After reading this chapter you should be able to:

    • Describe communication and perception processes
    • Discuss factors that influence the perception of self and others
    • Describe strategies for improving perception

    Think back to the first day of classes. Did you plan ahead for what you were going to wear? Did you get the typical school supplies together? Did you try to find your classrooms ahead of time or look for the syllabus online? Did you look up your professors on an online professor evaluation site? Based on your answers to these questions, I could form an impression of who you are as a student. But would that perception be accurate? Would it match up with how you see yourself as a student? And perception, of course, is a two-way street. You also formed impressions about your professors based on their appearance, dress, organization, intelligence, and approachability. As a professor who teaches others how to teach, I instruct my student-teachers to really take the first day of class seriously. The impressions that both teacher and student make on the first day help set the tone for the rest of the semester.

    As we go through our daily lives, we perceive all sorts of people and objects, and we often make sense of these perceptions by using previous experiences to help filter and organize the information we take in. Sometimes we encounter new or contradictory information that changes the way we think about a person, group, or object. The perceptions that we make of others and that others make of us affect how we communicate and act. In this chapter, we will learn about the perception process, how we perceive others, how we perceive and present ourselves, and how we can improve our perceptions.

    • 2.1: Perception Process
      This page discusses perception as a process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory information. It highlights the role of salience in filtering stimuli, the use of schemata for organization (including prototypes and stereotypes), and the thoughtful interpretation of meaning. It emphasizes that our perceptions significantly influence communication and behavior, shaping how we interact with others and our surroundings.
    • 2.2: Perceiving Others
      This page explores how initial impressions, shaped by facial expressions and physical characteristics, affect perceptions of competence and social interactions. Key concepts include internal and external attributions, which explain how we connect behavior to personal traits or situational factors. Errors like the fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias can distort communication.
    • 2.3: Perceiving and Presenting Self
      This page discusses the interplay between self-perception elements such as self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, emphasizing their influence on communication and behavior. It highlights the looking glass self and social comparison, as well as the impact of feedback on self-efficacy. Cultural differences in praise and the effects of abusive parenting on self-esteem are also explored.
    • 2.4: Improving Perception
      This page outlines strategies for enhancing self-perception and perceptions of others, highlighting the influence of schemata, stereotypes, and negative thoughts. Key strategies include empathetic listening, perception checking, and evaluating social influences, while cautioning against self-fulfilling prophecies and toxic relationships. It emphasizes the importance of supportive connections and mindfulness to improve self-awareness and interpersonal perceptions.


    This page titled 2: Perceiving and Understanding is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Misc (LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.