Perceiving Persons

CHAPTER 4

Perceiving Persons

HANDOUT 4.2a

The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange items into different groups. Of course one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities that is the next step; otherwise, you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run this may not seem important but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first, the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but then, one can never tell. After the procedure is completed one arranges the materials into their appropriate places. Eventually, they will be used once more and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, this is part of life.[1]

HANDOUT 4.2b

You are about to be presented with a story. Please listen carefully to the story because later you will be asked to recall it. You may use any memory strategy that you like, except for writing anything down.

HANDOUT 4.2c

You are about to be presented with a story about doing the laundry. Please listen carefully to the story because later you will be asked to recall it. You may use any memory strategy that you like, except for writing anything down.

HANDOUT 4.4a Detection of Deception

If you know any of the students well enough to be sure whether or not they are lying, you should make a note of that when reporting your judgments.

HANDOUT 4.4b Detection of Deception

You will be seeing some students talk a little about their background, concerning such details as where they are from, what their parents and siblings are like, what their parents do or did for a living, and what they (the students) and their friends used to do for fun. Some of the students will be telling the truth about their background, and others will be lying about many of the details they give. Your task is to try to distinguish the students who are telling the truth from those who are lying. Please try to do your best. When you are watching the students make their presentations, pay special attention to their faces. Do they look very serious? Are their eyes moving more than usual? Are they or are they not making eye contact with the audience?

If you know any of the students well enough to be sure whether or not they are lying, you should make a note of that when reporting your judgments.

HANDOUT 4.4c Detection of Deception

You will be seeing some students talk a little about their background, concerning such details as where they are from, what their parents and siblings are like, what their parents do or did for a living, and what they (the students) and their friends used to do for fun. Some of the students will be telling the truth about their background, and others will be lying about many of the details they give. Your task is to try to distinguish the students who are telling the truth from those who are lying. Please try to do your best. When you are watching the students make their presentations, pay special attention to their body movements and their voices. Try to ignore their faces and the content of what they’re saying and pay more attention to the following: Are their hands and feet fidgety? Do they seem to restlessly shift their posture more than usual? Do their voices rise in pitch? Is there an increase in speech hesitations? The more of these questions to which the answer is “yes,” the more likely it is that the person is lying.

If you know any of the students well enough to be sure whether or not they are lying, you should make a note of that when reporting your judgments.

HANDOUT 4.6a ACS

This questionnaire has been designed to investigate the different ways that people think about themselves and other people. The questionnaire is anonymous, so there is no need to put your name on it. There are no right or wrong answers. We are interested in your own perceptions. Please answer each question as honestly and accurately as you can, but don’t spend too much time thinking about each answer.

In front of each of the items below, please write a whole number ranging from -3 to +3 to indicate how much you agree with the item, according to the following scale:

-3 / -2 / -1 / 0 / +1 / +2 / +3
strongly / neither / strongly
disagree / agree nor disagree / agree
_____ / 1. / I don’t usually bother to analyze and explain people’s behavior.
_____ / 2. / Once I have figured out a single cause for a person’s behavior I don’t usually go any further.
_____ / 3. / I believe it is important to analyze and understand our own thinking processes.
_____ / 4. / I think a lot about the influence that I have on people’s behavior.
_____ / 5. / I have found that relationships between a person’s attitudes, beliefs, and character traits are usually simple and straightforward.
_____ / 6. / If I see people behaving in a really strange or unusual manner, I usually put it down to the fact that they are strange or unusual people and don’t bother to explain it any further.
_____ / 7. / I have thought a lot about the family background and personal history of people who are close to me, in order to understand why they are the sort of people they are.
_____ / 8. / I don’t enjoy getting into discussions where the causes for people’s behavior are being talked about.
_____ / 9. / I have found that the causes for people’s behavior are usually complex rather than simple.
_____ / 10. / I am very interested in understanding how my own thinking works when I make judgments about people or attach causes to their behavior.
_____ / 11. / I think very little about the different ways that people influence each other.
_____ / 12. / To understand a person’s personality/behavior I have found it is important to know how that person’s attitudes, beliefs, and character traits fit together.
_____ / 13. / When I try to explain other people’s behavior I concentrate on the other person and don’t worry too much about all the existing external factors that might be affecting them.
_____ / 14. / I have often found that the basic cause for a person’s behavior is located far back in time.
_____ / 15. / I really enjoy analyzing the reasons or causes for people’s behavior.
_____ / 16. / I usually find that complicated explanations for people’s behavior are confusing rather than helpful.
_____ / 17. / I give little thought to how my thinking works in the process of understanding or explaining people’s behavior.
_____ / 18. / I think very little about the influence that other people have on my behavior.
_____ / 19. / I have thought a lot about the way that different parts of my personality influence other parts (e.g., beliefs affecting attitudes or attitudes affecting character traits).
_____ / 20. / I think a lot about the influence that society has on other people.
_____ / 21. / When I analyze a person’s behavior I often find the causes form a chain that goes back in time, sometimes for years.
_____ / 22. / I am not really curious about human behavior.
_____ / 23. / I prefer simple rather than complex explanations for people’s behavior.
_____ / 24. / When the reasons I give for my own behavior are different from someone else’s, this often makes me think about the thinking processes that lead to my explanations.
_____ / 25. / I believe that to understand a person you need to understand the people whom that person has close contact with.
_____ / 26. / I tend to take people’s behavior at face value and not worry about the inner causes for their behavior (e.g., attitudes, beliefs, etc.).
_____ / 27. / I think a lot about the influence that society has on my behavior and personality.
_____ / 28. / I have thought very little about my own family background and personal history in order to understand why I am the sort of person I am.[2]

HANDOUT 4.6b LCS

Please answer each question by circling either YES or NO. There are no right or wrong answers. Don’t take too much time answering any one question. At times while filling out this questionnaire you may wonder, “What should I do if I can answer both yes and no to a question?” If this happens, think about whether your answer is a little more one way than the other. Try to pick one or the other response for all questions and not leave any blank.[3]

YES / NO / 1. / Do you believe that most problems will solve themselves if you just don’t fool with them?
YES / NO / 2. / Do you believe you can stop yourself from catching a cold?
YES / NO / 3. / Are some people just born lucky?
YES / NO / 4. / Most of the time, do you feel that getting good grades means a great deal to you?
YES / NO / 5. / Are you often blamed for things that just aren’t your fault?
YES / NO / 6. / Do you believe that if somebody studies hard enough he or she can pass any subject?
YES / NO / 7. / Do you feel that most of the time it doesn’t pay to try hard because things never turn out right anyway?
YES / NO / 8. / Do you feel that if things start out well in the morning it’s going to be a good day no matter what you do?
YES / NO / 9. / Do you feel that most of the time parents listen to what their children have to say?
YES / NO / 10. / Do you believe that wishing can make good things happen?
YES / NO / 11. / When you get punished does it usually seem it’s for no good reason at all?
YES / NO / 12. / Most of the time do you find it hard to change a friend’s opinion?
YES / NO / 13. / Do you think that cheering more than luck helps a team to win?
YES / NO / 14. / Did you feel that it was nearly impossible to change your parents’ minds about anything?
YES / NO / 15. / Do you believe that parents should allow children to make most of their own decisions?
YES / NO / 16. / Do you feel that when you do something wrong there’s very little you can do to make it right?
YES / NO / 17. / Do you believe that most people are just born good at sports?
YES / NO / 18. / Are most of the other people your age stronger than you?
YES / NO / 19. / Do you feel that one of the best ways to handle most problems is not to think about them?
YES / NO / 20. / Do you feel that you have a lot of choice in deciding who your friends are?
YES / NO / 21. / If you find a four-leaf clover, do you believe that it might bring you good luck?
YES / NO / 22. / Did you often feel that whether or not you did your homework had much to do with what kind of grades you got?
YES / NO / 23. / Do you feel that when a person your age is angry with you, there’s little you can do to stop him or her?
YES / NO / 24. / Have you ever had a good-luck charm?
YES / NO / 25. / Do you believe that whether or not people like you depends on how you act?
YES / NO / 26. / Did your parents usually help you if you asked them to?
YES / NO / 27. / Have you felt that when people were angry with you it was usually for no reason at all?
YES / NO / 28. / Most of the time, do you feel that you can change what might happen tomorrow by what you do today?
YES / NO / 29. / Do you believe that when bad things are going to happen they just are going to happen no matter what you try to do to stop them?
YES / NO / 30. / Do you think that people can get their own way if they just keep trying?
YES / NO / 31. / Most of the time do you find it useless to try to get your own way at home?
YES / NO / 32. / Do you feel that when good things happen they happen because of hard work?
YES / NO / 33. / Do you feel that when somebody your own age wants to be your enemy that there’s little you can do to change matters?
YES / NO / 34. / Do you feel that it’s easy to get friends to do what you want them to do?
YES / NO / 35. / Do you feel that you have little to say about what you get to eat at home?
YES / NO / 36. / Do you feel that when someone doesn’t like you there’s little you can do about it?
YES / NO / 37. / Did you usually feel that it was almost useless to try in school because most other children were just plain smarter than you were?
YES / NO / 38. / Are you the kind of person who believes that planning ahead makes things turn out better?
YES / NO / 39. / Most of the time, do you feel that you have little to say about what your family decides to do?
YES / NO / 40. / Do you think it’s better to be smart than to be lucky?

HANDOUT 4.6c Brief LCS

YES / NO / 1. / Do you believe you can stop yourself from catching a cold?
YES / NO / 2. / Are some people just born lucky?
YES / NO / 3. / Are you often blamed for things that just aren’t your fault?
YES / NO / 4. / Do you believe that if somebody studies hard enough he or she can pass any subject?
YES / NO / 5. / Most of the time do you find it hard to change a friend’s opinion?
YES / NO / 6. / Do you feel that one of the best ways to handle most problems is not to think about them?
YES / NO / 7. / Do you feel that you have a lot of choice in deciding who your friends are?
YES / NO / 8. / Do you often feel that whether or not you study does have much to do with what kind of grades you get?
YES / NO / 9. / Have you ever had a good-luck charm?
YES / NO / 10. / Most of the time, do you feel that you can change what might happen tomorrow by what you do today?
YES / NO / 11. / Do you think that people can get their own way if they just keep trying?
YES / NO / 12. / Do you feel that when good things happen they happen because of hard work?
YES / NO / 13. / Do you feel that when someone doesn’t like you there’s little you can do about it?
YES / NO / 14. / Do you often feel that it is almost useless to try in school because most other students are just plain smarter than you are?
YES / NO / 15. / Are you the kind of person who believes that planning ahead makes things turn out better?

Handout 4.8

For each of the following pairs of cities, circle the city in each pair that has double the population of the other:

1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil & Karachi, Pakistan

2. Baghdad, Iraq & Dacca, Bangladesh

3. Los Angeles, California & Tehran, Iran

4. Berlin, Germany & Lagos, Nigeria

5. Madrid, Spain & Kinsasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo

6. Montreal, Canada & Bangkok, Thailand

7. Chicago, Illinois & Lahore, Pakistan

8. Rome, Italy & Saint Petersburg

9. Paris, France & Wuhan, China

10. Houston, Texas & Alexandria, Egypt

11. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania & Jiddah, Saudi Arabia

12. Tijuana, Mexico & Giza, Egypt

13. San Diego, California & Kiev, Ukraine

14. Dallas, Texas & Luanda, Angola

HANDOUT 4.9

Answer each question by circling either YES or NO. Please answer honestly. Your responses will be confidential; do not write your name anywhere on this handout.

YES / NO / 1. / Are you more attracted to “sensible” people than to “imaginative” people?
YES / NO / 2. / Would you rather write a paper than take an exam?
YES / NO / 3. / If you and a same-sex friend were sharing a pizza, and only a large slice and a small slice remained, and you were still rather hungry, would you offer the larger slice to your friend?
YES / NO / 4. / Do you enjoy analyzing the causes for people’s behavior?
YES / NO / 5. / Have you ever stolen anything, even something very small?
YES / NO / 6. / Do you give blood at least once every two years?
YES / NO / 7. / Do you like desserts that are very dense and very sweet?
YES / NO / 8. / Do you like soccer?
YES / NO / 9. / If you had the opportunity to cheat on an exam in a course you did not like, and you could be assured of not getting caught, would you cheat?
YES / NO / 10. / Do you like having to get very dressed up for special events?

HANDOUT 4.10a Likelihood Judgment