Understanding Perception, Cognition, and Emotion in Behavior Analysis

1. CHAPTER FIVE Perception, Cognition, and Emotion INB 350 Lecture By: Ms. Adina Malik (ALK)

2. Learning Objectives • Perception • Forms of perception disorder • The process of cognition • Cognitive biases or systematic errors • The role of moods and emotions • For causes of behavior • For consequences of outcome

3. Perception Perception is: • The process by which individuals connect to their environment. • A “sense-making” process • A complex physical and psychological process • It is defined as ‘the process of screening, selecting and interpreting stimuli so that they have meaning to the individual’ (Steers,1084).

4. The Role of Perception • The process of ascribing meaning to messages and events is strongly influenced by the perceiver’s current state of mind, role, and comprehension of earlier communications • People interpret their environment in order to respond appropriately • The complexity of environments makes it impossible to process all of the information • People develop shortcuts to process information and these shortcuts create perceptual errors

5. Perceptual Distortion • Four major perceptual errors: • Stereotyping • Halo effects • Selective perception • Projection Distortion by Generalization Distortion based on Attributes

6. Stereotyping • Is a very common distortion • Occurs when an individual assigns attributes to another solely on the basis of the other’s membership in a particular social or demographic category • For e.g.: ‘Old people are conservative; this person is old and therefore is conservative.’

7. Halo Effects • Are similar to stereotypes • Occur when an individual generalizes about a variety of attributes based on the knowledge of one attribute of an individual • For e.g.: A smiling person is judged to be more honest than a frowning person, even though there is no consistent relationship between smiling and honesty. • It can be positive or negative

8. Selective Perception • The perceiver singles out information that supports a prior belief but filters out contrary information • Perpetuates stereotypes or halo effects • For e.g.: Smile as honest or dishonest are likely to affect how the other party’s behavior is perceived or interpreted.

9. Projection • Arises out of a need to protect one’s own self-concept • People assign to others the characteristics or feelings that they possess themselves (position reversed) • For e.g. frustration

10. Cognitive Biases in Negotiation • Negotiators have a tendency to make systematic errors when they process information. These errors, collectively labeled cognitive biases, tend to impede negotiator performance. Cognitive Biases: • Irrational escalation of commitment • Mythical fixed-pie beliefs • Anchoring and adjustment • Issue framing and risk • Availability of information • The winner’s curse • Overconfidence • The law of small numbers • Self-serving biases • Endowment effect • Ignoring others’ cognitions • Reactive devaluation

11. Irrational Escalation of Commitment and Mythical Fixed-Pie Beliefs • Irrational escalation of commitment • Negotiators maintain commitment to a course of action even when that commitment constitutes irrational behavior • To avoid it parties should involve advisor who will work as a reality check point • Mythical fixed-pie beliefs • Negotiators assume that all negotiations (not just some) involve a fixed pie • To avoid it parties should introduce accountability in the negotiation context

12. Anchoring and Adjustment and Issue Framing and Risk • Anchoring and adjustment • The effect of the standard (anchor) against which subsequent adjustments (gains or losses) are measured • The anchor might be based on faulty or incomplete information, thus be misleading • Thorough preparation, along with reality check can help to avoid it • Issue framing and risk • Frames can lead people to seek, avoid, or be neutral about risk in decision making and negotiation

13. Availability of Informationand the Winner’s Curse • Availability of information • Operates when information that is presented in vivid or attention-getting ways becomes easy to recall. • Becomes central and critical in evaluating events and options • The winner’s curse • The tendency to settle quickly on an item and then subsequently feel discomfort about a win that comes too easily • The best remedy for winner’s curse is to prevent it from occurring

14. Overconfidence and The Law of Small Numbers • Overconfidence • The tendency of negotiators to believe that their ability to be correct or accurate is greater than is actually true • The law of small numbers • The tendency of people to draw conclusions from small sample sizes • The smaller sample, the greater the possibility that past lessons will be erroneously used to infer what will happen in the future

15. Self-Serving Biasesand Endowment Effect • Self-serving biases • People often explain another person’s behavior by making attributions, either to the person or to the situation • The tendency, known as fundamental attribution error, is to: • Overestimate the role of personal or internal factors • Underestimate the role of situational or external factors • Endowment effect • The tendency to overvalue something you own or believe you possess

16. Ignoring Others’ Cognitionsand Reactive Devaluation • Ignoring others’ cognitions • Negotiators don’t bother to ask about the other party’s perceptions and thoughts • This leaves them to work with incomplete information, and thus produces faulty results • Reactive devaluation • The process of devaluing the other party’s concessions simply because the other party made them

17. Mood, Emotion and Negotiation • The distinction between mood and emotion is based on three characteristics: • Specificity • Intensity • Duration

18. Mood, Emotion and Negotiation Negotiations create both positive and negative emotions • Aspects of the negotiation process can lead to positive emotions • Positive feelings result from fair procedures during negotiation • Positive feelings result from favorable social comparison • Positive emotions generally have positive consequences for negotiations • They are more likely to lead the parties toward more integrative processes • They also create a positive attitude toward the other side • They promote persistence

19. Mood, Emotion and Negotiation • Aspects of the negotiation process can lead to negative emotions • Negative emotions may result from a competitive mindset • Negative emotions may result from an impasse

20. Mood, Emotion and Negotiation • Negative emotions generally have negative consequences for negotiations • They may lead parties to define the situation as competitive or distributive • They may undermine a negotiator’s ability to analyze the situation accurately, which adversely affects individual outcomes • They may lead parties to escalate the conflict • They may lead parties to retaliate and may thwart integrative outcomes

21. Mood, Emotion and Negotiation However, • Effects of positive and negative emotion • Positive emotions may generate negative outcomes • Negative feelings may elicit beneficial outcomes • Emotions can be used strategically as negotiation gambits