Diversity and Perception - Utah State University

1 Diversity and Perception So much more than you think you know A Social Information Processing Model of Perception Perception cognitive process that enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings Perceptual Distortions Perceptual Illusions Perceptual Illusions Perceptual Illusions More Mind Tricks (from Cambridge U.) Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

2 Stage 1: Selective Attention/Comprehension Attention Process of becoming consciously aware of something or someone People pay attention to salient stimuli Salient something that stands out from context Stage 2: Encoding and Simplification Schema Represents a person s mental picture or summary of a particular event or type of stimulus Four Layers of Diversity Stage 2: Encoding and Simplification Stereotype An individual s set of beliefs about the characteristics or attributes of a group Stereotyping Process people into groups according to various criteria that all people within a category possess the same traits expectations of others and interpret their behavior according to our stereotypes Stereotyping Process are maintained by: Overestimating the frequency of stereotypic behavior exhibited by others Incorrectly explaining expected and unexpected behaviors Differentiating minority individuals from oneself Characteristics of Stereotypes Their nature is not always negative Women are nurturing Asians are smart Allow people to save time and effort when processing information about others Based on generalizations (often inaccurate) Older workers are more accident prone Women are more emotional Can lead to poor decisions and discrimination Causal Attributions Causal Attributions suspected or inferred causes of behavior Attributional Tendencies Fundamental attribution bias Reflects one s tendency to attribute another person s behavior to his or her personal characteristics, as opposed to situational factors.

3 Stereotype-confirming attributions Dismiss individuals who don t match stereotype as an exception Selective Perception Confirmatory bias Prevents people from noticing/focusing on useful, observable, and relevant data Bounded Awareness FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS Inattentional (Perceptual) Blindness How many passes does the team in white make? Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Target is expected to behave in one way, is treated consisted with that expectation and actually becomes that way Person may negatively internalize aspects of a culturally held stereotype Loss in performance due to low expectations Word, Zanna, & Cooper (1974) job interviews Power of Distinctions Even trivial distinctions can lead to derogation (blue eyes and brown eyes) Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes video case Overcoming Biases Do not overlook the external causes of others behaviors Identify and confront your stereotypes Evaluate people based on objective factors Avoid making rash judgments Kelley s Model of Attribution Behavior can be attributed either to: Internal factors within a person (such as ability) or to.

4 External behavior within the environment (such as a difficult task) Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism belief that one s native country, culture, language, and behavior are superior to all others. Defining and Managing Diversity Diversity represents the multitude of individual differences and similarities that exist among people