When should perception checking be used?
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Show How shall I talk of the sea to the frog, if he has never left the pond? How shall I talk of the frost to the bird of the summer land if he has never left the place of his birth? And how shall I talk of life with the sage if he is a prisoner of his doctrine? ~ Chung Tzu Creative commons photo from burst.shopify.com Creative commons photo from burst.shopify.com The increased uncertainty in interactions with strangers is accompanied by higher levels of anxiety, as we anticipate a wider array of possible negative outcomes. We may worry about damage to our self-esteem from feeling confused and out of control. We may fear the possibility of being incompetent, or being exploited. We may worry about being perceived negatively by the stranger. And we may worry that interacting with a stranger will bring disapproval from members of our own group. Generally these anxieties can be reduced by paying more conscious attention to the communication process, and by gathering more information on the stranger. The authors add a further caution. Generally, individuals tend to explain their own behavior by reference to the situation. Observers tend to attribute an individual’s behavior to elements of that individual’s character. When interacting with strangers we are especially likely to attribute their behavior to their character, and then to view their character as typical of their culture (or race, etc.). That is, we are especially likely to interpret a stranger’s behavior in light of our stereotypes about what ‘those kind of people’ are like (Glaser, n.d.). Creative commons photo from burst.shopify.com …[W]hat we perceive is culturally bound. We are taught from a very young age what to pay attention to and what to ignore. We learn what is important in our culture and look for those clues to make meaning. We often ignore clues that we’ve learned are considered unimportant. Sometimes we miss valuable clues that are right under our noses. Learning to recognize that we perceive stimuli in different ways helps us start to address this central question: Why don’t we all see things the same way? Understanding ourselves is fundamental to understanding others and intercultural communication (Section 2.2). Creative commons photo from burst.shopify.com We tend to pay attention to information that is salient. Salience is the degree to which something attracts our attention in a particular context. The thing attracting our attention can be abstract, like a concept, or concrete, like an object. For example, a person’s identity as a Native American may become salient when they are protesting at the Columbus Day parade in Denver, Colorado. Or a bright flashlight shining in your face while camping at night is sure to be salient. The degree of salience depends on three features (Fiske & Taylor, 1991). We tend to find salient things that are visually or aurally stimulating and things that meet our needs or interests. Lastly, expectations affect what we find salient” (p.55). Creative commons photo from burst.shopify.com Our perception process is largely universal, even when we consider the range of sight, hearing, feeling, smell, or taste. What differs is how we perceive it, and our interpretations reflect our cultural backgrounds. We can easily recognize, for example, that some people can discern all the flavor “notes” in a wine, while to others all red wines taste almost the same. We can also acknowledge that we change over time, and young eyes often work better than older eyes. That said, it is not as much about whether our eyes are young or have seen many seasons as what we focus on or ignore during that perception process that makes a significant difference. Indeed, what it means to be “young” or “old” varies by culture. We perceive through our senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound, and we form perceptions through the lens of our cultural background (Section 2.2). Creative commons photo from burst.shopify.com Creative commons photo from burst.shopify.com What is perception checking and give an example?Perception checking involves being able to describe what is happening in a given situation, provide multiple interpretations of events or behaviors, and ask yourself and others questions for clarification. Some of this process happens inside our heads, and some happens through interaction.
What is a perception checking response?A perception checking statement is a message you create to check your understanding of someone's words or behavior. The benefits of perception checking statements include: a) helping us decode messages more accurately: Our goal is mutual understanding.
What does a perception check include?Perception checking involves three steps 1. A description of the behavior that you noticed, 2. At least two possible interpretations of the behavior, 3. A request for clarification.
Which of the following will using a perception check help prevent?Perception checking will help you to understand others more accurately and prevent you from jumping to conclusions. Before you respond to someone's feelings and thoughts, you need to check that you have understood what they are saying.
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