PERCEPTION
★Definition of perception
★Types of perception
★Perceptual process
★Importance of Perception in OB
★Perceptual selectivity
Perception is an intellectual process of transforming sensory stimuli to meaningful information. It is the process of interpreting something that we see or hear in our mind and use it later to judge and give a verdict on a situation, person, group etc.
It can be divided into six types−
Sound − The ability to receive sound by identifying vibrations. Speech − The competence of interpreting and understanding the sounds of language heard.
Touch − Identifying objects through patterns of its surface by touching it. Taste − The ability to receive flavor of substances by tasting it through sensory organs known as taste buds.
Other senses − They approve perception through body, like balance, acceleration, pain, time, sensation felt in throat and lungs etc.
Social world − It permits people to understand other individuals and groups of their social world.
Example − Priya goes to a restaurant and likes their customer service, so she will perceive that it is a good place to hang out and will recommend it to her friends, who may or may not like it. Priya’s perception about the restaurant is good.
perceptual process
Perceptual process has different stages of perception. The different stages are −
●Receiving
●Selecting
●Organizing
●Interpreting
Receiving:- Receiving is the first and most important stage in the process of perception. It is the initial stage in which a person collects all information and receives the information through the sense organs.
Selecting:- Selecting is the second stage in the process. Here a person doesn’t receive the data randomly but selectively. A person selects some information out of all in accordance with his interest or needs. The selection of data is dominated by various external and internal factors.
Organizing:- Keeping things in order or say in a synchronized way is organizing. In order to make sense of the data received, it is important to organize them.
We can organize the data by −
◆Grouping them on the basis of their similarity, proximity, closure, continuity.
◆Establishing a figure ground is the basic process in perception. Here by figure we mean what is kept as main focus and by ground we mean background stimuli, which are not given attention.
◆Perceptual constancy that is the tendency to stabilize perception so that contextual changes don’t affect them.
Interpreting:- Finally, we have the process of interpreting which means forming an idea about a particular object depending upon the need or interest. Interpretation means that the information we have sensed and organized, is finally given a meaning by turning it into something that can be categorized. It includes stereotyping, halo effect etc.
Importance of Perception in OB
Perception is very important in understanding human behavior because every person perceives the world and approaches life problems differently. ... If people behave on the basis of their perception, we can predict their behavior in the changed circumstances by understanding their present perception of the environment.
We need to understand what the role of perception in an organization is. It is very important in establishing different role of perception, like:
○Understanding the tasks to be performed.
○Understanding associated importance of tasks allotted.
○Understanding preferred behavior to complete respective tasks.
For example, every member in a group has to be clear regarding the role allotted to them. Programmer writes the code, tester checks it, etc.
Perceptual selectivity
Selective perception is a perceptual process in which a person only perceives what he desires to and sets aside or ignores other perceptions or viewpoints.
Under the process of perception it has been pointed out that it is a selective process. In everybody’s environment there are various stimuli. These stimuli are in the form of objects, events and people. An individual cannot get attracted towards all these stimuli. He is attracted towards only those stimuli which interest him. The stimuli towards which he gets attracted are selected and the others get ignored.
For example, when we read a newspaper we get attracted towards only some of the news and ignore the remaining news.
Now the question arises that what are the factors which influence the perceptual selectivity. There are various factors influencing it. they can be divided into the following two categories:
(A)- External Factors of Perceptual Selectivity
(B)- Internal Factors of Perceptual
Selectivity External Factors
The following are the chief external factors that influence perceptual selectivity:
(1) Size:- Size means the big or small size of the stimuli. Generally, it has been observed that stimuli which have a large size attract people quickly. There is a greater possibility of the perception of such stimuli being selected.
For example, when we read a book, it has two types of written words, e.g., headings which are printed in big letters while their explanation is written in small letters. The moment we open a book our attention immediately goes towards the headings and not the explanation that follows them. In the context of business we find big sized advertisement attracting people quicker than the small-sized advertisement.
(2) Intensity:- Intensity means that some stimuli are brighter, louder, stronger in odour and more colourful than the others. Somebody gets attracted to a loud sound than a lower sound. Similarly brighter stimuli attract people more.
(3) Repetition:- Repetition factor indicates that the repetition of a stimuli has a particular attraction. It is on the basis of this principle that the businessmen display the advertisement of their products repeatedly. When a particular stimulus repeatedly appears before us, it is natural that we start taking interest in it. A person desirous of getting a job meets the personnel manager time and again.In this case we find this factor of repetition at work.
(4) Motion:- This factor tells us that people get attracted more to the moving stimuli instead of The fixed stimuli. That is why there is a greater possibility of perception about the moving stimuli and their selection. We usually find flashing neon sign boards displayed in the market, at the cross-roads, etc. The advertising material remains in motion in these advertisements. People moving about during the night get attracted towards them. This is an attractive medium of advertisement.
(5) Contrast:- Contrast means when a stimulus in its own group appears to be different. Every stimulus is looked at in the context of its background. Here background means the group of which the stimulus happens to be a part. If a member of a group appears to be different from the other members, the perceiver will be attracted towards it.
Internal factors
The following are the internal factors influencing the perceptual selectivity:
(1) Self-Concept:- Self-concept of a person is the chief internal factor of perceptual selectivity Self-concept means as to what extent we know ourselves and how confident we are for ourselves. The of a person helps in formulating his concept about the stimuli.
For example, if a person self-concept doubts his ability, he will fear the stimuli (his outer world). On the contrary, if he is confident about his self, he will accept the stimuli happily. In other words, the more we understand ourselves, the more easily we understand others. Therefore, correct self-concept influences accurate perception.
(2) Belief:- A person’s belief in external environment/stimuli helps him in the selection of the stimuli. A person thinks about a stimulus as per his belief in it and not what it actually is. In other words, a person accepts facts after duly censoring them so that his present belief in them remains intact.
(3) Needs:- The selection of the stimuli available in the environment is influenced by our needs. Ifa person wishes to attain some particular achievement he will get attracted towards only those stimuli which fulfil his wish. Similarly, if a person wishes an increase in his affiliation he will get attracted towards only those stimuli which help him in satisfying his wish for greater affliation.
(4) Expectation:- We have an expectation of a particular behaviour from everybody. We select them on the basis of our expectation (or the behaviour expected out of them).
For example, if we experct the use of a rough/foul language by a particular section of people, our relationship with them will depend on that very expectation. Our expectation can be fully wrong or absolutely right. Expectation can also undergo a change.
(5) Response Disposition:- Response disposition means that a person gets attracted towards a known rather than an unknown object/person. A person gets attracted quickly towards things which he already knows, while he ignores other things about which he knows nothing.
For example, there are two lectures going on before a religious man.
In one of the lectures religion is being taught while the second lecture is about the economic condition of the country, it is undoubted that the person will feel interested only in the religions discourse because he is familiar with the vocabulary of the discourse and he will easily understand everything. This happens only because of individual’s response disposition.
