The Continuum Model: The Mysteries Of Perception

It may be that a genetic predisposition to perception exists, but that situational factors also have to be in place for it to develop.

Perceptions is what we as individuals understand from the information we are given, what we think we see and know vs what another sees towards the same object or person. But something we must always keep in mind is the stigmas we have aren’t always true.

Perception is the process of making meaning from people. Misperception would be to perceive someone incorrectly.

A considerable volume of psychological research has focused on the decision-making process in humans, from everyday decisions on what to buy in grocery stores to the global life decisions that will influence all other aspects of life. Some of these decisions involve making judgments about other individuals of our own species: what kind of a person are they? Do we like them? Are they fit for a given task? Although a lot of times humans answer those questions on a conscious level using anecdotal evidence or direct experiences, a growing number of studies have shown that subconscious ‘shortcuts’ consisting of fixed opinions about certain characteristics of individuals have dramatic influence on our perception of the people possessing those characteristics. These are referred

I survey the body language, facial expressions and the possible words or phrases that can be interpreted more than one way. Because of this course I am more tolerant to people who are prejudiced. The most personally influential chapter to me was chapter two in the assigned textbook. The chapter introduced me to how stereotypes are formed and the consequences of categorizing people. Studies show that in order to simplify the workload of the brain, we place people into social categories based on previous experience and peer learning. “Social categorization involves thinking about people primarily as members of social groups rather than as individuals” (Blaine, 22).I found that I engage in this practice, but the automatic groups do not usually have negative stereotypes attached; When I meet a negative exception, they are then sorted into a subgroup.The second most influential chapter …..Chapter four of the textbook details the components of prejudices. the stereotypes and instances of prejudice enabled me

How first impressions are formed has been a subject of interest by many researchers in the area of psychology.

Human perception is a process of sensing the world by the human brain. This process is firmly influenced by a person’s first culture, which means people interpret the meaning of other’s behavior based on their cultural backgrounds and personal experiences. Racial

Have you ever judged a person by their age, gender or appearance rather than really knowing them? When you meet a tattooed man on the street, your first impression of him might be bad, i.e. a negative categorization, since tattoos are associated with criminals and unemployed people. However, he could be a person who does volunteer and works as a business manager. People tend to automatically categorize a person into groups by visual judgements, demographic features, personality and own perceptions or beliefs (Billig & Tajfel, 1973). Social categorization is a process of classifying people into different groups based on their similar characteristics and group memberships. It is a natural part of social perception and serves a basic epistemic and identity function in organizing and structuring people’s knowledge about the world and make things become manageable in daily life (Bodenhausen, Kang & Peery, 2012). It occurs spontaneously without much thoughts (Crips & Hewstone, 2007). In social categorization, we usually form a general conclusion about other people and begin to respond to them as a member of a particular social group than as individuals. It allows us to communicate and connect with those who share the same or similar group membership. Social groups that we use in social categorization can change under different situations and over time. Whaley and Link (1998) discovered that there is a strong association between categorization and stereotype-based judgments. For

There has been decades of research examining what it referred to as “automatic categorization” (Nelson, 2005. p. 207). Researchers describe this as an essential trait in humans that is a primal response to physical characteristics, such as race, gender, and age, that automatically prompts emotional responses and prejudices. This type of categorization sets the

Various factors determine how we perceive other as well as ourselves. One major factor that shapes our perceptions is the things we are exposed to in our daily lives. Moreover, social distance arising from factors such as age difference may determine how we perceive other. For example, Umphrey & Robinson (2007) argue that that the other-person perception is greatly determined by age.

Can your mental models about your world both assist and limit your perceptions when you meet a person for the first time?

Perception is defined as how you look at others and the world around you. Being able to select, organize and intercept information starts the perceptual process. Perception affects the way people communicate with others. An individual’s pattern of thinking can affect their perception of others. Most people communicate best with people of similar cultures.

First impressions are always used in setting the tone when you first meet someone. Without the luxury of knowing the persons background, you initially judge someone by the way that person introduces themselves and how they come across to you. By coming across, I mean the way a person carries themselves. For example, if the person comes across as shy and introverted, you tend to think of that person as timid and somewhat weak. However, if that same person comes across as outgoing, confident (but not to confident) and easy to talk to, you look at that person as someone you can count on and possibly a leader. This type of evaluation (even though we all do it) is for the most part not always the right way to evaluate a person.

It has been previously proven, that in the first few moments of meeting someone, we form an opinion of them. The problem with this idea is stereotypes. One of our society's biggest mistake is that we judge people based on what they look like, or how they act.