SELECTIVE PERCEPTION

1 CHAPTER1 SELECTIVEPERCEPTION"Wedonotfirstsee,then define,wedefinefirstandthensee."-WalterL ippmann(citedinSnyder&Uranowitz,1978) , , ,butaswillbecomeclear, , (1949).BrunerandPostmanpresentedpeoplewi thaseriesoffiveplayingcardsonatachis-tos cope(amachinethatcandisplaypicturesforve rybriefintervals), !BrunerandPostmanfoundthatittookpeoplemo rethanfourtimeslongertorecognizeatrickca rdthananor-malcard,andtheyfoundthatmostr eactionstotheincongruitycouldbecategoriz edasoneoffourtypes:dominance,compromise, disrup-tion, "perceptualdenial."Forexample,facedwitha blackthreeofhearts, ,formisdominantandcolorisassimilatedtopr iorexpectations,andinthesecondcase,color 1516 PERCEPTION ,MEMORY, 'sexperi-ment,27of28subjects(or96percent ofthepeople) ,someofBrunerandPostman' "greyish"fourofspades,orthataredsixofclu bswas"thesixofclubsilluminatedbyredlight "(remember,experi-mentalsubjectswereshow nthecardsonatachistoscope).

2 HalfofBrunerandPostman'ssubjectsshowedco mpromiseresponsestoredcards, , ,butwhenithappened, ,oneexperimentalsubjectexclaimed:"Idon't knowwhatthehellitisnow, 'saplayingcard."Likewise,anothersubjects aid:"Ican'tmakethesuitout, ' 'tknowwhatcoloritisnoworwhetherit' 'mnotevensurenowwhataspadelookslike!MyGo d!"Thefinalreactionwas,ofcourse, , ,sixofBrunerandPostman' ,asubjectwhowasshownaredsixofspadesthoug htthesymbolswerereversed,andasubjectwhow asshownablackfourofheartsdeclaredthatthe spadeswere"turnedthewrongway." ,wordsofBrunerandPostman( ):"Perceptualorgani-zationispowerfullyde terminedbyexpectationsbuiltuponpastcom-m ercewiththeenvironment.

3 "Whenpeoplehaveenoughexperiencewithapart icularsituation, # ,youwereaskedtocounthowmanytimesthelette rfappearedinthefollowingsentence:Thesefu nctionalfuseshavebeendevelopedafteryears ofscientificinvestigationofelectricpheno mena, (Block&Yuker,1989).Thecorrectansweris11( includ-ingfourtimesinwhichfappearsinthew ordof).BecauseexperiencedSELECTIVEPERCEP TION17speakerspronouncethewordofwitha"v" sound,theyhavemorediffi-cultydetectingth eseoccurrencesoftheletterfthandoinexperi encedspeakers,andasa result, ,youaretold,istodrinkavodkaandtonic,wait twentyminutesforthealcoholtoenteryourblo odstream, ,handsyoutheglass, ,afemaleassistantenterstheroom,sitsdown, (1977)conductedthisexperiment,theyfoundt hatsubjectswhothoughttheyhadbeengivenavo dkaandtonicshowedmuchsmallerincreasesinh eartratethansub-jectswhothoughttheyhadbe engiventonicwateralone-regardlessofwheth ersubjectshadactuallyingest~.

4 ,StephenSmith,andElisabethWells-Parker(1 989) , "sensationseekers"wholikedtotakerisks,an dothershadbeenidentifiedaslow"sensations eekers."Then,halfanhourafterdrinkingthei rbeverages, ,rightlyorwrongly, , (Jones,1971).18 PERCEPTION ,MEMORY, (TakenfromHastodandCantril,1954.)Thisdif ferenceofopinionledHastorfandCantriltowo nderwhetherDartmouthandPrincetonstudents wereactuallyseeingdifferentgames, ,theyaskedanewgroupofstudentsateachschoo ltowatcha , , ( ),whereasPrincetonstudentssawtheDartmout hteamcommitmorethantwiceasmanyinfraction sasthePrincetonteam( ).Infact,therewassuchadiscrepancyinperce ptionsthatwhenPrincetonsentacopyofthefil mtoseveralDartmouthalum-niforagroupshowi ng,oneDartmouthalumnuswhopreviewedthefil mcouldnotseeanyoftheDartmouthinfractions and,inconfusion,sentPrincetonatelegramas kingfortherestofthefilm!

5 Basedonthesedifferencesinperception,Hast orfandCantril(1954, )concludedthat:"Itseemsclearthatthe'game ' ,DDartmouthinfractionsVl:JIIIP rinceton'" 'U<l)6C<l) '-'-'0'""'<l) :::l3'"<l)b!Jto'""'2<l); ::IntheseexperimentsandtheexperimentofBr unerandPostman,people' "cognitive" ; ,desires,andemotionalattachmentsareknown as"motivational" ,1951,theDartmouthandPrincetonfootballte amswentheadtoheadinPrincetonUniversity' , 'sstarplayer,whohadjustappearedonthecove rofTimemagazine, , , ,fourdaysafterthegame,awriterfortheDaily Princetonian(Princeton'sstu-dentnewspape r)declared:"Thisobserverhasneverseenquit esuchadisgustingexhibitionofso-called'sp ort.

6 'Bothteamswereguiltybuttheblamemustbelai dprimarilyonDartmouth' ,obvi-ouslythebetterteam,hadnoreasontoro ughupDartmouth."Onthesameday,theDartmout h(Dartmouth'sundergraduatenewspaper)char gedthatPrinceton'scoachhadinstilleda"see -what-they-did-go-get-themattitude" , (asocialpsychologistthenatDartmouth)andH adleyCantril(aPrincetonsurveyresearcher) .Capital-izingonthecontroversy,Hastorfan dCantril(1954) ,amongothers:"Fromwhatyousawinthegameort hemovies,orfromwhatyouhaveread,whichteam doyoufeelstartedtheroughplay?"Notsurpris ingly, ,53percentassertedthatbothsidesstartedit , ,86percentofthePrincetonstudentsfeltthat Dartmouthhadstart-edit, ,MEMORY,ANDCONTEXT differentpeoplehavedifferent'attitudes'c oncerningthesame'thing.

7 'Forthe'thing'simplyisnotthesamefordiffe rentpeoplewhetherthe'thing'isafootballga me,apresidentialcandidate,Communism,orsp inach."In1981,JohnLoyandDonaldAndrewscar efullyreplicatedHastorfandCantril'sstudy , ,RobertVallone,LeeRoss,andMarkLepper(198 5) ,Ross,andLeppercalledthisphenomenonthe"h ostilemediaeffect," ,theyasked160registeredvoterstoindicatew hethermediacoverageofthecandidateshadbee nbiased,andifso, ,andinrougWy90per-centofthesecases, ,Vallone,Ross,andLepper(1985)conductedas econdstudyinwhich68"pro-Israeli"colleges tudents,27"pro-Arab"students,and49"gener allymixed"or"neutral"studentswatchedthes amesetoftelevisednewssegmentscoveringthe tragicBeirutmassacre(in1982,a seriesofArab-Israeliconflictshadresulted inthemassacreofArabciviliansintherefugee campsatSabraandChatilla,Lebanon).

8 ,Vallone,Ross, ,pro-Israelistudentsthoughtthesegmentswe rebiasedagainstIsrael, ,pro-Arabstudentsfeltthatthenewsprograms hadexcusedIsrael"whentheywouldhaveblamed someothercountry,"whereaspro-Israelistud entsfelttheprogramsblamedIsrael"whenthey wouldhaveexcusedsomeothercountry."Asinth ecaseoftheDartmouth-Princetongame,Vallon e,Ross,andLepperfoundthatthesedisagreeme ntswerenotsimplydifferencesofopinion; , , ,ontheotherhand, ,pro-Israelistu-dentsthoughtthatmostneut ralviewerswouldbecomemorenegativetowardI sraelasaresultofwatchingthenewsclips, ,Ross, ,arbitration, ,whenpeoplebecomecommittedtoaparticularc auseoracourseofaction, ,bytheirverynature, ' ,beforemakitiganiniportantjudgmentordeci sion,itoftenpaystopauseandaska fewkeyquestions:AmImotivatedtoseethingsa cer-tainway?

9 WhatexpectationsdidIbringintothesituatio n?WouldIseethingsdifferentlywithoutthese expectationsandmotives?HaveIcon-sultedwi thotherswhodon'tsharemyexpectationsandmo tives?Byaskingsuchquestions,decisionmake rscanexposemanyofthecogni-tiveandmotivat ionalfactorsthatleadtobiasesinperception .