Perception In The Perception Process

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Perception is defined as how someone views the world, and is normally affected by who the person is (Adler and Proctor II, 105). Perception is what brings us in contact with people, objects, and places in the environment (Robert, 2014). Selection, organization, interpretation, and negotiation are the four steps in the perception process (Adler and Proctor II, 105). Selection is a stimuli that attracts our attention (Adler and Proctor II, 105). Organization is divided into different categories such as appearance, social role, and interaction style (Adler and Proctor II, 106). Interpretation is when we attach meaning to the information given (Adler and Proctor II, 109), and lastly negotiation is when two or more parties try to achieve a shared
Perceptions from both parties might not always be the same, but the process is. Throughout the entire week of thanksgiving, the perception I had of my mother was that she had reverted back to her actions of being unfair. The reason why I perceived her that way is because her actions caused me to select her traits that I found flawed and obnoxious. I also organized her into her social role as a mother as well as her interaction styles with me that I perceived as negative, which led me to interpret that the reason she’s harsher towards me is because she cares about my siblings more. Our personal narratives, or how we describe the story from our point of view, resulted in constant pointing of faults towards each other, which made the negotiation stage difficult to achieve. This difficulty had a negative impact on our relationship during the entire week of
Changes in facial expressions, postures, gestures, and vocal tones are examples of nonverbal behaviors (Adler and Proctor II, 141). To reiterate on Adler’s statement, this means that it is possible to predict what someone may be feeling based on their physical changes, but it is also possible to misinterpret how they feel as well. The nonverbal behaviors that I displayed the week of Thanksgiving led to misunderstandings between my mom and I. The week of Thanksgiving is usually when my family reevaluates all the things we have gone through this entire year and give thanks for the blessings we received. Because of this, I wanted to make sure that the amount of arguments I encounter would be minimal. If an argument would occur, I would avoid it to prevent it from getting bigger and possibly ruining the entire week. My feelings were very neutral, but my mom had a different perception. She interpreted my nonverbal behaviors as a sign of having an attitude. For instance, whenever there would be family discussions my facial expressions would remain the same. My lack of facial expressions seemed to have communicated that I was displeased with the conversation, when in reality I was simply listening to the conversation. My vocal tones also decreased because I believe that if I become overly excited conflicts would occur. All of these nonverbal behaviors I exhibited

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