1. Perception is influenced by our physical senses
that pick up information from the world around us.
Color blindness.

2. Perception is influenced by what is learned from culture and our own filters that permit us to see what we expect.
Meaning of "Red"

Perception illusions

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/graphics/

George Herbert Mead  (1863-1931) 
Mind, Self and Society

Mead was a Symbolic Interactionists:

Theorists who believe that humans are best defined by the ability to use symbols.

Mind
Mind is the ability to manipulate thoughts and symbols.

There are two kinds of thoughts:
Linguistic symbolization and Sensory Imagery.

Left Side of Brain
      "The Word"
Words
Internal world of symbols

Linguistic meaning
Rational thinking


Mead's ME
Viewing the self as an Object

Evaluator of Action
The "ME" evaluates the social
acceptance of the "I."

Control urges:
Urge surfing and Mindfulness                                             

I and ME Internal Dialogue

We carry on an internal debate with the ME part of our Mind evaluating and trying to control the impulses of the "I" part of our Mind. 

SELF
The self is the conversation between the
I and the ME and the "Generalized Other" given to us by society.







 
Self is formed by Role Taking
We learn who we are by playing the role of someone we admire. We follow Role Models of Significant Others.
Dual perspective --  we learn sensitivity by taking on the perspective of another person in addition to our own.

Pygmalion Effect: We become like the people who admire us.
Looking glass self: We see ourselves in how others see us.

Society
The self learns language and culture from the society. The self is formed by interaction with others in society.

Society give us "the Generalized Other" -- our idea of how a person is supposed to act and feel.

Norms and Rules
define a large group.

Norms are what is assumed to be expected behavior

Rules are prescription of behavior that is obliged, preferred or prohibited.

Certain members of society are significant role models that define the ideal relationships.

Society set up the expectations for the ME.

(Transition to Chain of Being)

The Perceptual Process

Perception is the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting data from our senses.

Explain what is selecting and sensory limitations.

What does it mean that perception is inherently subjective and selective?

Diagram of the abstraction process. Non-verbally, we experience the environment (territory) with the five senses, then we give names (verbally) to what we experience.

The names permit us to describe, or see detail in the object.
Then we are able to make inferences about it and finally judgments.

diagram of abstraction process

Perceptual Set
We perceive the world that way that we are prepared to perceive it.

What is the perceptual set? Explain how eating disorders and muscle dysmorphia relate to perception.

Selecting:

     What is selective attention?

Organizing:

     What are prototypes?

     What are stereotypes?

     What are scripts?  

Interpreting:

     Explain interpretation and attribution.

Self Concept
The self concept is the sum total of everything that encompasses the self-referential term "me."

       What is the self concept?  Give an example.  

Self Esteem
       Discuss the meaning and significance of self esteem.

       Explain the Focus on Controversy Self Esteem: More in not better.

What is the self serving bias?
We tend to attribute our success to ourselves and negative outcomes to external circumstances. 

Self Disclosure
    Discuss self disclosure and gender and cultural differences of self disclosure.

    Explain constructive goals for self disclosure.

    What are counter productive goals for self disclosure?

    What are guidelines for appropriate self disclosure?

Perception of Others
     What negativity bias?
     When perceiving others we weigh negative information more than positive.

Attribution Error

      What is the fundamental attribution error?
      We tend to overemphasize personal characteristics  in other person's behavior.

Stereotyping Others

       How does selective memory bias relate to stereotypes distortion?

Gender and Perception

       How might deficiency in skills explain gender differences.                              

       Explain Debroh Tannen's theories about gender differences.

Explain strategies for communicating competently in terms of perception.