Site MapHelpFeedbackChapter 3 Glossary
Chapter 3 Glossary
(See related pages)


Accommodation  an adaptation or adjustment.
Attractiveness  what we visualize as the "perfect look" or idealized physical attributes.
Attribution  the assignment of meaning to the actions of ourselves and others.
Biorhythms  recurring cycles of biological processes, such as alertness or hunger that peak at a regular time each day.
Constructivism  theory that people interpret and act on experience based on a mental system of organizing knowledge.
Empathy  the ability to accurately perceive the experience and behavior of another person.
Fundamental attribution error  the overestimation of the degree to which other people's behaviors are due to internal factors and underestimation of the significance of external forces.
Interpretation  stage of perception in which we determine the meaning of an event or interaction.
Organization  placing stimuli in a knowledge structure or category to give them meaning and aid retention.
Perception check  tool that gauges the accuracy of your perceptions by engaging in conversations with others.
Perceptual constancy  tendency to maintain the same perception of people and events over time.
Perceptual field  the range of stimuli that the mind can apprehend.
Perception  process of assigning meaning to sensory information and experiences.
Perception shifts  strategies for thinking creatively and managing different perspectives.
personal constructs  categories by which people and events can be differentiated.
Predisposition  a tendency or inclination to think or behave in a particular way.
Priming  audience use of conceptual categories that have been emphasized in the media.
Prototype  a specific person, personality, or phenomenon that exemplifies a set of characteristics.
Proximity  the equality of being close to something, an object, person, or event.
Salience  personal relevance or interest.
Sensations  perceptions of the body's condition.
Scripts  guides to actions and expectations based on the categorization of perceptions.
Selection  focusing on some sensory stimuli rather than others.
Self-serving bias  the tendency to attribute external causes to our own misfortunes, but not to those of others.
Similarity bias  the attribution of our own motivations to someone else's behaviors.
Social learning  the general theory that we learn new behaviors, customs, and routines by watching others.
Stimuli  things that evoke a reaction.
Vividness  includes all sensations that seem to stand out from their surroundings.







Dobkin, Comm ChangingWorld2006Online Learning Center with Powerweb

Home > Chapter 3 > Glossary