Chapter 3 Perception and Learning in Organizations
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Perception and LEARNING in Organizations
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
Outline the perceptual process.
Explain how we perceive ourselves and others through social identity.
Outline the reasons why stereotyping occurs and the perceptual problems it creates.
Describe three ways to minimize the adverse effects of stereotyping.
Describe the attribution process and two attribution errors.
Summarize the self-fulfilling prophecy process.
Explain how empathy and the Johari Window can help improve our perceptions.
Define learning.
Describe the A-B-C model of behaviour modification and the four contingencies of reinforcement.
Describe the three features of social learning theory.
Summarize the four components of Kolb’s experiential learning model.
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Chapter 3 Perception and Learning in Organizations
Chapter Glossary
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Chapter 3 Perception and Learning in Organizations
action learning A variety of experiential learning activities in which employees are involved in a “real, complex, and stressful problem,” usually in teams, with immediate relevance to the company.
attribution process The perceptual process of deciding whether an observed behaviour or event is caused largely by internal or by external factors.
behaviour modification A theory that explains learning in terms of the antecedents and consequences of behaviour.
contact hypothesis The theory that as individuals interact with one another they rely less on stereotypes about each other.
empathy A person’s ability to understand and be sensitive to the feelings, thoughts, and situations of others.
extinction Occurs when the target behaviour decreases because no consequence follows it.
fundamental attribution error The tendency to attribute the behaviour of other people more to internal than to external factors.
halo error A perceptual error whereby our general impression of a person, usually based on one prominent characteristic, colours the perception of other characteristics of that person.
Johari Window The model of personal and interpersonal understanding that encourages disclosure and feedback to increase the open area and reduce the blind, hidden, and unknown areas of oneself.
learning A relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of a person’s interaction with the environment.
learning orientation The extent that an organization or individual supports knowledge management, particularly opportunities to acquire knowledge through experience and experimentation.
mental models The broad worldviews or “theories in-use” that people rely on to guide their perceptions and behaviours.
negative reinforcement Occurs when the removal or avoidance of a consequence increases or maintains the frequency or future probability of a behaviour.
perception The process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information in order to make sense of the world around us.
positive reinforcement Occurs when the introduction of a consequence in- creases or maintains the frequency or future probability of a behaviour.
prejudice The unfounded negative emotions toward people belonging to a particular stereotyped group.
primacy effect A perceptual error in which we quickly form an opinion of people based on the first information we receive about them.
projection bias A perceptual error in which an individual believes that other people have the same beliefs and behaviours that we do.
punishment Occurs when a consequence decreases the frequency or future probability of a behaviour.
recency effect A perceptual error in which the most recent information dominates one’s perception of others.
selective attention The process of filtering information received by our senses.
self-efficacy A person’s belief that he or she has the ability, motivation, and resources to complete a task successfully.
self-fulfilling prophecy Occurs when our expectations about another person cause that person to act in a way that is consistent with those expectations.
self-serving bias A perceptual error whereby people tend to attribute our their favourable outcomes to internal factors and our their failures to external factors.
social identity theory A model that explains self-perception and social perception in terms of the person’s unique characteristics (personal identity) and membership in various social groups (social identity.)
social learning theory A theory stating that much learning occurs by observing others and then modelling the behaviours that lead to favourable outcomes and avoiding the behaviours that lead to punishing consequences.
stereotyping The process of assigning traits to people based on their membership in a social category.
tacit knowledge Knowledge embedded in our actions and ways of thinking, and transmitted only through observation and experience. .
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Chapter 3 Perception and Learning in Organizations
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Chapter 3 Perception and Learning in Organizations
Chapter Synopsis
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Chapter 3 Perception and Learning in Organizations
Perception involves selecting, organizing, and interpreting information to make sense of the world. Selective attention is influenced by characteristics of the target, the target’s setting, and the perceiver. Perceptual grouping principles organize incoming information. This is also influenced by our emotions, expectations, and mental models.
According to social identity theory, people perceive themselves by their unique characteristics and membership in various groups. They also develop homogeneous, and usually positive, images of people in their own groups, and usually less positive homogeneous images of people in other groups. This leads to overgeneralizations and stereotypes.
Stereotyping is the process of assigning traits to people based on their membership in a social category. Stereotyping economizes mental effort, fills in missing information, and enhances our self-perception and social identity. However, stereotyping also lays the foundation for prejudice and intentional or unintentional discrimination. We can’t prevent the activation of stereotyping, but we can minimize the application of stereotypic information in our decisions and actions. Three strategies to minimize the influence of stereotypes are diversity awareness training, meaningful interaction, and decision-making accountability.
The attribution process involves deciding whether the behaviour or event is largely due to the situation (external attributions) or personal characteristics (internal attributions). Two attribution errors are fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias. Self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when our expectations about another person cause that person to act in a way that is consistent with those expectations. Leaders can create positive self-fulfilling prophecies by supporting a learning orientation, applying contingency-oriented leaderships styles, and increasing the employee’s self-efficacy.
Four other perceptual errors commonly noted in organizations are primacy effect, recency effect, halo effect, and projection. We can minimize these and other perceptual problems through empathy and becoming more aware of our values, beliefs, and prejudices (Johari Window).
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour (or behaviour tendency) that occurs as a result of a person’s interaction with the environment. Learning is an important part of knowledge management and influences ability, role perceptions, and motivation in the MARS model of individual performance.
The behaviour modification perspective of learning states that behaviour change occurs by altering its antecedents and consequences. Antecedents are environmental stimuli that provoke (not necessarily cause) behaviour. Consequences are events following behaviour that influence its future occurrence. Consequences include positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction. The schedules of reinforcement also influence behaviour.
Social learning theory states that much learning occurs by observing others and then modelling those behaviours that seem to lead to favourable outcomes and avoiding behaviours that lead to punishing consequences. It also recognizes that we often engage in self-reinforcement. Behavioural modelling is effective because it transfers tacit knowledge and enhances the observer’s self-efficacy.
Many companies now use experiential learning because employees do not acquire tacit knowledge through formal classroom instruction. Kolb’s experiential learning model is a cyclical four-stage process that includes concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Action learning refers to a variety of experiential learning activities in which employee solve problems or opportunities, usually in teams, with immediate relevance to the organization.
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Chapter 3 Perception and Learning in Organizations
PowerPoint® Slides
Canadian Organizational Behaviour includes a complete set of Microsoft PowerPoint® files for each chapter. (Please contact your McGraw-Hill Ryerson representative to find out how instructors can receive these files.) In the lecture outline that follows, a thumbnail illustration of each PowerPoint slide for this chapter is placed beside the corresponding lecture material. The slide number helps you to see your location in the slide show sequence and to skip slides that you don’t want to show to the class. (To jump ahead or back to a particular slide, just type the slide number and hit the Enter or Return key.) The transparency masters for this chapter are very similar to the PowerPoint files.
Lecture Outline (with PowerPoint® slides)
Perception and Learning in OrganizationsSlide 1
Perceptions of Women in Engineering
Slide 2 /
Perception and LEARNING in Organizations
Opening Vignette: Women in engineering
Women are under-represented in Engineering programs:
• Stereotype of engineers doesn’t fit desired self-image
• Women tend to perceive themselves as less capable due to external attribution
• Self-fulfilling prophecy caused by some instructors and peers
Perceptual Process ModelSlide 3 /
Model of Perception
Perception -- process of receiving information from environment and making sense of it (organizing and interpreting
Model of Perception
1. Environmental stimuli are received through senses
2. Received stimuli selected in or screened out
3. Selected stimuli are organized and interpreted
4. Interpreted information becomes beliefs, which influences behaviour
Selective AttentionSlide 4 /
Selective Attention
Process of filtering information through senses -- impossible to attend to all stimuli reaching our senses
Three influences on selective attention
1. Characteristics of the object
-- large size
-- brightly coloured (intensity)
-- in motion
-- repetitive
-- unique (novelty)
Splatter Vision PerceptionSlide 5 /
2. Perceptual context
-- objects/people stand out against the environment
3. Characteristics of the perceiver
-- recognize and remember information consistent with our values and attitudes
-- perceptual defense -- emotions screen out large blocks of information that threaten self-esteem
-- expectations -- condition us to expect events
Splatter vision -- scanning everything and focusing on nothing
• Used by fighter pilots, truck drivers, and police detectives
• Minimizes selective attention process -- reduces chance of screening out potentially important information
Perceptual Organization & Interpretation
Perceptual grouping principles
• Closure -- filling in missing pieces (e.g. assuming who attended meeting while you were away)
• Identifying trends
• Similarity or proximity
Perceptual grouping helps us make sense of the workplace, but it may inhibit creativity
Mental models
• Broad world-views or ‘theories-in-use’
-- create screen through which we select information
-- mental boxes used to store information
-- assumptions used to interpret events
• But can blind people to potentially better perspectives
Another example of how mental models have caused people to misinterpret opportunities:
• Ross Perot's retort when colleagues suggested in 1980 that EDS buy an upstart company named Microsoft: “What do 13 people in Seattle know that we don't know?”
Social Identity TheorySlide 6
Social Identity Theory Features
Slide 7 /
Social Identity Theory
Explains self-perception and social perception in terms of our unique characteristics (personal identity) as well as membership in various social groups (social identity).
• People adopt degrees of personal and social identity depending on the situation
• We identify ourselves with several groups and are motivated to create and present a positive self-image
Perceiving Others Through Social Identity
• Comparative process – compare characteristics of our groups with other groups
• Homogenizing process --we homogenize people within social categories
• Contrasting process -- we often contrast our groups with others by forming less positive images of others
Stereotyping in the WorkplaceSlide 8 /
Stereotyping in organizations
Stereotyping refinery process operators
• People are surprised to learn that Charlotte St. Germain is a refinery process operator. They stereotype these people as rugged men, not a 50-something grandmother!
StereotypingSlide 9 /
Stereotyping is the process of assigning traits to people based on their membership in a social category
l Define people by demographics or other observable groups to which they belong
Why stereotyping occurs:
1. Categorical thinking – grouping people and objects into
pre-conceived categories that are stored in our long term memory
2. Need to understand and anticipate how others will behave – rely on stereotypes to fill in missing information
3. Enhances our self-concept – enhance our self-perception and social identity by emphasizing the positive aspects of the groups to which we belong and emphasize negative (potentially inaccurate) of contrasting groups
Minimizing Stereotyping BiasesSlide 10 /
Minimizing Stereotyping Bias
• Stereotyping is a “hard-wired process that we can’t avoid. Need to minimize the application of stereotypic information in our decisions and actions
Strategies for minimizing the application of stereotyping:
1. Diversity awareness training
l Focus on awareness, understanding and appreciating differences in the workplace
l Sensitize people about stereotypes and prejudices
l Dispel myths about people from different backgrounds
l Doesn’t correct deep-rooted prejudice
2. Meaningful interaction
l Contact hypothesis –the more we interact with someone, the less we rely on stereotypes to understand that person
3. Decision-making accountability
l Make decision-makers accountable for the information they rely on and use to make organizational decisions
Attribution ProcessSlide 11
Rules of Attribution
Slide 12 /
Attribution Theory
Making inferences about the causes of behaviour
• Internal: behaviour due mainly to ability/motivation
• External: behaviour due mainly to factors beyond person’s control (e.g. luck, availability of resources
• Determined by info about person’s behaviour in past and other situations, and of others in this situation
Internal attribution determined by:
• High consistency -- person behaved this way before
• Low distinctiveness -- person does not behave like this toward other people or in different situations
• Low consensus -- other people do not behave this way in similar situations
Attribution ErrorsSlide 13 /
External attribution determined by:
• Low consistency -- person didn’t behaved this way before
• High distinctiveness -- person behaves like this toward other people or in different situations