Define the five types of distortion in perception. Give an example of each.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The five types of distortion are:

1. Stereotyping: the tendency to attribute to an individual the characteristics one believes are typical of the group to which that individual belongs. Three important and common types of stereotypes are sex-role stereotypes, age stereotypes, and race/ethnicity stereotypes. Example: "Jewish mothers want their sons to become doctors or lawyers."

2. Implicit bias: the attitudes or believes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. Example: Employers may unconsciously pass over job applicants who have names that sound African American, such as Jamar or Shaquanda.

3. The halo effect: the tendency to form an impression of an individual based on a single trait, positive or negative. Example: Because a salesman is handsome, the employer assumes that he will be a top performer.

4. The recency effect: the tendency to remember recent information better than earlier information, perhaps because when you activate your recall, the later recollections are still present in working memory. Example: You read a negative article about a presidential candidate on the day of the election. When you go to the polls, you vote for the other candidate.

5. Causal attribution: the activity of inferring causes for observed behavior. For example: You see a car accident on the highway and assume the cause was one or both drivers talking on their cell phones at the time of the accident.

Students may also mention fundamental attribution bias, in which people attribute another person's behavior to his or her personal characteristics rather than to situational factors. For example, on a blazingly hot day, when you see a landscaper sitting and drinking from a bottle of water, you assume he is lazy. Self-serving bias is when people tend to take more responsibility for success rather than for failure. For example, when you get an A on your psychology exam, you think your grade is the result of your long hours of studying; when you get a D on your calculus exam, you blame your poor grade on a bad teacher.