Chapter 3

Learning, Perception, and

Attribution
OVERVIEW
Managers of organization are expected to achieve the
goals set forth by higher authorities. The individual
workers, in turn, are expected by their respected
managers to perform and achieve certain goals assigned
to them. However, managers and individual workers
operate in environments where other people can
seriously affect their own individual performances. This
reality brings out in the open the need to understand why
people behave as they do.
Learning
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Learning
Acquiring a complex set of sophisticated skills is a result of change
that comes from learning. An understanding of how people learn is
very important because it will help people explain and predict
behavior.
What is Learning
Learning may be defined as a relatively permanent change in
behavior or knowledge due to experience. When a person behaves
different from what he previously did, it can be said that there is
change in the persons behavior. With change there is learning.
A change in behavior happens due to any or both of the following:
1. Learning
2. Other causes such as drugs, injury, disease and maturation.
A changed behavior is manifested by outward actions like frequent
yawning.
Behavioral change starts with the mind when it accepts new
knowledge. Sometimes, in the mind ‘orders” the body to show some
signs of behavior that is different from the previous one. Sometimes
the mind is just plain contented with the new knowledge and do not
make attempts to “order” the body to show some outward
manifestations of behavior change.
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Theories of
Learning
Theories of Learning
Eminent researchers have developed theories
that help explain the learning process. These
theories consist of classical conditioning, operant
conditioning, and social learning.
Theories of Learning
Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning may be defined a type of learning
in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a
response that was originally evoked by another stimulus.
A stimulus is something that incites action.
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Theories of Learning
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning may be defined as a type of learning where
people learn to repeat behaviors that bring them pleasurable
outcomes and to avoid behaviors that lead to uncomfortable
outcomes.
At this point, a question may be asked: how is classical conditioning
different from operant conditioning? Classical conditioning involves
adjustment to events over which the concerned person has no
control. In contrast, operant conditioning involves adjustment to
situations in which the actions of the person determine what happens
to him.
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Theories of Learning
Social Learning
Social learning may be defined as the process of observing the
behavior of others, recognizing its consequences, and altering
behavior as a result. One of the ways by which people learn is through
social contacts with other people. For instance, an employee pays
much attention to his boss, a highly successful person, whenever he
speaks or just plain moving around the office. The brief encounters
with the boss gave the employee the opportunity to understand and
apply some ideas shared by the superior.
How Social Learning is Achieved

Social learning may be done in three ways

namely:
1. By observing what happens to other people.
2. By being told about something
3. Through direct experience
Perception
When an accident happened in the workplace, two persons actually saw it. Later,
when both were asked to provide details about the accident, their statements differ in
several aspects. How may this discrepancy be explained? The answer is: different
perceptions of the same event.
When a situation, as in the above case, happens, it will be difficult for the decision
maker to make an accurate evaluation of what really transpired, and the quality of his
decision is affected. This underscores the importance of knowing the various concepts
and theories ascribed to perception.
Perception may be defined as the process by which people select, organize, interpret,
retrieve, and respond to information from their environment.
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Factors Influencing Perception
Perception is influenced by the characteristics of the
following:
1. The perceiver
2. The target
3. The situation
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Factors Influencing Perception
The Perceiver
the person who perceives the target is the perceiver. His perception of the target is
influenced by factors that are unique to him, like the following:
1. His past experience
2. His needs or motives
3. His personality
4. His values and attitudes.
A person’s experience in the past have some bearing on his current perceptions.
For, instance, a child who had an unpleasant experience with a surgeon will not
maintain a good perception of physicians when he grows older.
Factors Influencing Perception
The Target
The person, object, or event that is perceived by another person is the target.
Perception may be modified by the following factors which are typical
characteristics of targets:
1. Contrast
2. Intensity
3. Figure-ground separation
4. Size
5. Motion
6. Repetition or novelty
Factors Influencing Perception
The Target
◎ The foregoing characteristics may be briefly described as follows.
◎ I during the perception process, the target is situated in a background of contrast,
perception is affected. For instance, when a boy is seen with five girls, perception will be
different than when he is with five boys.
◎ Intensity varies in terms of brightness, color, depth, and sound, and because of these,
perception is affected. For instance, a person will be seen differently when the illumination
is different form the usual one, say from an incandescent bulb to a bright blue, fluorescent
bulb.
◎ The figure and its ground is a factor that may affect visual perception. The figure is the
one being looked at , and the ground is the background against which it stands.
Factors Influencing Perception
The Target
◎ The size of the target is also a factor that may affect perception. Those that are smaller
or lager than the average are perceived differently. Size matters even in the placement of
company personnel. A research undertaken some years ago indicates that the taller persons
have better chances of promotion.
◎ In terms of motion, moving objects are perceived differently from stationary objects.
◎ Repetition affects perception
Factors Influencing Perception
The Situation
Perception is also affected by the surrounding environment. The situational factors
that affect perception are: time, work setting, and social setting. As people’s mood
vary from time to time, perception also varies depending on the time the
perception is made. Workplaces differ from one another. As such, perception also
differs from workplace to workplace. For instance, the playing of soft music may be
perceived favorably in a certain workplace but differently regarded in another
workplace. The social setting is also a factor in perception. For instance, a person
will perceive a Caucasian girl as very pretty when both of them are situated in a
remote place in the Philippines. However, when both are situated in a movie
studio in Hollywood, USA, the girl will be perceived differently.
Attribution
There are other theories that may be useful for a better
understanding of human behavior. One of these refers to
attribution.
Attribution theory is the process by which people ascribe
causes to the behavior they perceive.
Common Attribution Errors
When people make attempts to determine the causes of other people’s behavior,
errors commonly happen. These errors may be classified into the following types.
1. The fundamental attribution errors
2. The self-serving bias
The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to underestimate the
influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal or personal
factors in the behavior of others. For instance, the area manager of a retailing firm
blames one of the store managers for failing to attract a sufficient number of
customers rather than the poor location of the store.
The self-serving bias is the type of attribution error whereby people tend to
attribute their achievements to their good inner qualities, whereas they attribute
their failures to adverse factors within the environment. An illustration is provided.
Factors that Influence Attribution
When people try determining the cause of a person’s
behavior whether the cause is internal or external, some
factors influence such effort. The factors refer to the
following:
1. Distinctiveness
2. Consensus
3. Consistency
Factors that Influence Attribution
Distinctiveness
The consideration given to how consistent a person’s behavior is
across different situation is referred as distinctiveness
Consensus
This refers to the likelihood that all those facing the same situation will
have similar responses.
Consistency
This refers to the measure of whether an individual responds the same
way across time.
Shortcuts used in Forming
Impressions of Others
For whatever reason, we form impressions of others. Those impressions
constitute a database in our minds that we later use as aides in making
decisions concerning others. People’s perceptions may or may not be
accurate, but accuracy is not a serious concern when opinions are found.
Most often, people are not even aware that they are already judging
others.
Making sure that impressions of others are accurate is taxing and
burdensome. It is impractical to collect through observation or otherwise
information about a person covering many aspects of his activities. And
so, people end up making shortcuts.
Shortcuts used in Forming
Impressions of Others
Most often, these shortcuts produce misleading conclusions and
this should serve as a warning to people who make use of these
shortcuts.
The shortcuts refer to the following:
1. Selective perception
2. Halo effect
3. Contrast effects
4. Projection
5. Stereotyping
Selective Perception
Selective perception happens when a person selectively
interprets what he sees on the basis of his interests,
background, experience, and attitudes.
It is important for a person to assimilate everything he
sees, hear, smells, touches, or tastes. Only a limited
number of stimuli can be taken in. as a result, people
engage in selective perception, but the process is affected
by personal interests, background, experience, and
attitude of the perceiver.
Halo Effect
Halo effect occurs when one attribute of a person or situation is used
to develop an overall impression of the person or situation. “halo”
refers to the ring of light just above the head of a saint as we see it in
pictures or paintings. The “halo” signifies that everything about the saint
is holy
A person’s outstanding achievement in one area may serve as his
“halo” and he may be perceived as outstanding in other endeavors as
well. Of course, this is not always true. A person who is good at selling
must not be perceived outright as also good in training, recruiting, and
collecting accounts. Even if the perception process is slow, it is still
wrong if it is tainted with the halo effect.
Contrast Effects
A beautiful lady may be declared as the third prettiest in a certain place, but
she could be number one in another place.
A job applicant may be rated very well in an interview because mediocre
applicants were interviewed before him. The same applicant may be rated
“poor” when he is preceded by bright ones in the interview.
Contrasting situations, oftentimes, lead to inaccurate evaluation of a person’s
character and ability.
With the example cited above, contrast effects may be defined as
evaluations of a person’s characteristics that are affected by comparisons
with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the
same characteristics.
Projection
Projection is attributing one’s own thoughts,
feelings, or motives to another. It is likely to occur in
the interpretation stage of perception.
Stereotyping
Stereotyping refers to judging someone on the
basis of one’s perception of the group to which that
person belongs.
THE END