Definition, types, properties of perceptual processes. Examples of experimental studies of space and motion perception.

Concept of perception

In the previous lecture, we looked at the process of reflecting individual properties and qualities of the external and internal world, which is called sensation.
However, man does not live in a world of isolated qualities, spots of light or color, sounds or touches. He lives in the world of things, objects, forms, in the world of complex situations and deals not with individual sensations, but with whole images. Sensations and perceptions are a sensory reflection of reality with its direct impact on the senses. However, we define these processes as opposite: if the sensation is a reflection of the individual properties of objects in the material world. as well as internal states of the body, then perception is a reflection of phenomena as a whole with their direct impact on the senses.

Perception is not the sum of sensations. It requires isolating the main, leading features from the complex of influencing features while simultaneously abstracting from the unimportant ones. Perception is the result of complex analytical and synthetic work. distinguishing some features from others, combining perceived details into one meaningful whole. Thus, perception is closely related to thinking.

The process of perception also requires a comparison of the image of an object with previous gaps about it. If in the process of such comparison the hypothesis about the alleged object coincides with the incoming information, then recognition of the object occurs, and the process of perception is completed. For example, if I now show you a familiar object, you will instantly recognize it and name it. The image of this object is already stored in your memory; you have seen it many times. However, if an unfamiliar object (for example, some exotic fruit or an unfamiliar device) comes into your field of perception, then you will examine it and make hypotheses about what it really is.

According to L.N. Leontiev, the psychology of perception is scientific knowledge about that. how in life we ​​build an image of the world and how it functions in life. The function of the image is the self-reflection of the world. This is a function of nature’s “intervention” in itself through the activities of subjects. The image of the world, enriching and changing throughout the subject’s life, plays a crucial role in the regulation of his life activity.

Human sensory-perceptual system

Sensory processes are sensations. A person constantly feels the influence of the external world on his body: he sees, hears, smells and tastes, feels tactile and temperature effects on his body. It also senses processes occurring inside the body: hunger, pain, excitement or weakness, etc.

The sensory-perceptual system is constantly developing and improving in the process of human life. This is necessary for a person’s successful adaptation to the outside world. A person’s abilities and capabilities depend on the quality of the perception system.

This is especially noticeable when compared with people who have disturbances in the development of perception. The life of a person with disabilities (blindness, deafness, muteness, etc.) differs from the life of an absolutely healthy person. Perceptual actions play a significant role here: the more minor the perception defect, the easier it is to correct and possibly correct it. This is done by specialists - defectologists.

Perception as a perceptual activity.

How does the image of perception arise? The image of perception is the result of perceptual activity. Not a single sensory impulse can determine the emergence of an adequate image of perception. Here a correction is needed, aimed at inevitable errors and bringing the image into conformity with the object; an exteriorization of the reflective process is needed, which occurs in the form of perceptual actions. These actions are likened by their external form to the perceived object (A.N. Leontyev).

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The image of the world and man in ancient Indian philosophy

... with the state structure, pre-philosophy is replaced by philosophical cognitive creativity, first philosophy. Conceptual images of pre-philosophy fall into philosophical development and result in abstract universality. ... the birth of philosophy. Philosophy arises as a resolution of the contradiction between the mythological picture of the world, built according to the laws of imagination, and new knowledge and thinking. However …

For example, when you look at an object, your gaze seems to follow the shape of this object.

The movements of the hand and eye, with the help of which the image is constructed, are the most well studied. They are divided into two large classes:

§ Search, installation and corrective, with the help of which the search for a given object of perception is carried out, the installation of the eye or hand in the starting position, and the correction of this position.

§ Movements involved in constructing an image, recognizing a familiar object, etc. Among them are:

Table No. 3

The function of perceptual actions proper is the construction of an image of an object. These actions are easiest to study using the example of a palpating movement of the hand. When perceiving shape, as I said earlier, there is a correspondence between the trajectory of the hand and the contour of the object. The movements of the eye, like the movements of the hand, are also determined by the object: they run around the contour of the object, and through these movements a more or less consistent examination of the entire object is carried out. The difference between the operations of detecting discrimination, which are part of the perceptual actions themselves, apparently consists of in that the observer, discovering the properties of an object (color, size, shape, etc.), begins to single out one or more properties as the most informative. For example, in this item, it is the grooves, and not the hole, that are most informative in order to recognize the key in it:

The function of identification actions is to identify an object. During the identification process, the current image is compared with standard images that are stored in memory. In the process of identification, we name an object, that is, we attribute it to some class of objects.

Perceptual and recognition actions are different in structure. Perceptual actions are deployed and consistent—this is not accidental, because their function is to study an object and construct its image. Against. Identification actions are minimized and performed instantly.

Perceptual systems

In the process of activity, a person constantly needs to solve some problems that require the perception of the most adequate reflection of the situation. Human perceptual systems are designed to solve these problems. These include:

• visual system;
• auditory;
• musculocutaneous;
• olfactory-gustatory;
• vestibular.

All of them provide the brain with the necessary information, which is used for the normal functioning and development of a person, both physically and mentally.

Properties of perception

Perception has the following properties:

Objectivity—in the image of perception we reflect not our subjective states, but phenomena and objects of the objective world. Objectivity consists in attributing our impressions of an object to a given object. Perception has this property due to the perceptual actions involved in perception.

Integrity and structure—these properties of perception have been studied in most detail by Gestalt psychologists. Problem: how the phenomenal world is organized in perception. When we look around, what we see is not a chaos of sensations (color spots, lines, individual currents), but an environment clearly divided into meaningful objects, that is, perception is a holistic, structurally organized process.

In Gestalt psychology, the laws of perception were formulated, which govern the perception of form. For the perception of a figure, great importance is attached to the background, which serves as the general level on which the figure appears. Figure and ground together form a single structure, therefore, the former cannot exist without the latter. Gestalt psychologists formulated the principle of pregnancy: our perception strives to be as simple and good as the stimulus conditions allow. Let us name some of the laws of perception that meet this principle:

1. The law of proximity - the closer objects are to each other in the visual field, the more likely they are organized into single, holistic images:

2. 3law of continuation - if elements have the property of continuation, acting as parts of a simple whole, then they can be easily organized into related units:

3. The law of addition to the whole - if a figure is not complete, then we strive to see it as a whole.

4. The law of a good figure - if the overall structure is better than its parts, then it is perceived as one, divided by a line. If the parts are better than the whole, then the whole figure begins to be divided into two in the optical field: Representatives of Gestalt theory believed that perceptual processes are innate, therefore, the laws they identified apply everywhere, in all cultures. However. The properties they describe apply only to representatives of a certain culture, and do not work in other cultures. Suffice it to say that what is perceived as an open circle in our culture is perceived as a bracelet in other cultures.

In addition, Gestalt theory does not address meaning as a means of organizing the visual field. For example, the following line of letters easily breaks down into units in accordance with the meaning of the words:

Good weather

If you write this in an unfamiliar language, then such organization does not occur:

Theweatherisfine

Semantic organization is not limited to verbal material. Look at the following images, they seem to make a little sense to you: It's just a bunch of shapes and lines. But as soon as you are told that the drawings depict “A soldier and a dog passing through a fence gate” and “A woman mopping the floor,” they are immediately organized into an understandable structure. It is noteworthy that once these designs are associated with specific meanings (and are therefore perceived in a certain way), it becomes difficult to perceive them as anything else.

Constancy of perception is expressed in the relative constancy of the size, shape and color of objects under changing, within certain limits, conditions of their perception. If the object we perceive is removed from us, then its image on the retina of the eyes will decrease, but meanwhile in perception the image will remain approximately the same size. In the same way, the form of display of an object on the retina will change with each change in the angle of view from which we see the object, but its shape will be perceived by us as more or less constant. I perceive the plate in front of me as round, and in accordance with the display on the retina. But the image that appears on my retina from my neighbors’ plates is not round, but oval - these are ellipses. Nevertheless, the form of objects visible to me remains constant: it corresponds to the objective form of the objects themselves. It is easy to understand how great the practical importance of constancy of size, shape, and color is. If our perception were not constant, then with every movement, with every change

The distance separating us from the object, with the slightest turn of the head or change in lighting, the basic properties by which we recognize objects would change. Constancy of perception is a necessary condition for a person’s orientation in the world. The source of constancy is the active actions of the perceptual system.

Repeated perception of the same objects under different conditions ensures the constancy of the image of perception.

Meaningfulness of perception. Perception is not reduced to a purely sensory basis; we perceive objects that have a certain meaning. In practice, it is the meaning that is essential for us, because it is connected with the use of the object. Form is important only as a sign for identifying an object in its meaning. To comprehend perception means to become aware of the object that it reflects. The meaningfulness of perception means that thinking is included in it. By perceiving a single object, we can recognize it as a special case of a general one. For example, calling an object “watch”, we are already moving from the individual, separate to the general. Thus, the initial stage of generalization (and this is a mental operation) begins at the level of perception.

This situation is well illustrated by the case of a violation of the generality of perception. Thus, one patient lost the ability to name colors: he could not use the names of colors himself, and did not understand their meaning when others used them. He imagined colors as the colors of certain objects, for example, blue as the color of a forget-me-not. However, his color perception was completely normal: he distinguished all shades of colors. During the test, this patient was unable to match pieces of colored wool to a given sample if their color was different in saturation or brightness. That is, he did not have a generalized perception of red, green and other colors to which he could classify various shades.

External and internal factors of perception

Let's return to the Subject-Object formula. So, in the process of perception there is an interaction between subject and object. Problem: what determines the image of perception - external or internal factors. Gestalt psychology studied mainly the determination of perception on the part of objective factors, etc. first of all, the structural qualities of stimulation.

In activity theory, the problem of the relationship between external and internal factors in the process of perception is solved through the concept of “perceptual activity”. On the one hand, it is a manifestation of the subject’s activity (the action of internal factors); on the other, perceptual actions are subject to the properties of the object (the idea of ​​assimilation by A.N. Leontiev).

In studies of the “New Look” direction (D. Bruner, L. Postman, etc.) it was shown that perception also depends on the motives, intentions and goals of the subject, that is, on internal factors. In line with this direction, three mechanisms of selectivity (selectivity) of perception were formulated.

1. The principle of resonance - stimuli that meet (correspond to) the needs and values ​​of the individual are perceived more correctly and faster than those that do not correspond to them.

2. The principle of protection - stimuli that contradict the subject’s expectations or carry potentially hostile information are recognized less well and are subject to greater distortion.

3. The principle of alertness or sensitivity - stimuli that threaten the integrity of the individual, which can lead to serious disturbances in mental functioning. are recognized faster than everyone else.

The concept of perceptual defense was also introduced. That is, distortions of perception under the influence of efficiency (emotional factors).

Being a function of the “Ego,” perceptual defense is designed to protect the personality from traumatic experiences. Perceptual defense cannot be understood without referring to the Freudian model of personality with its asocial tendencies and censorship authorities, the eternal conflict between the “Id”. the pleasure seeker, the stern censor of the “Super-ego” and the realist of the “I”.

L. Bellak presented the concept of projective behavior, which demonstrates individual differences in perception under the influence of the motives and feelings of the perceivers. Projection is a form of apperceptive distortion. L. Bellak gives the following witty example of the operation of this mechanism. Suppose Jean wants to ask Jacques for a grass clipper. Heading towards the neighbor's yard, he mentally imagines his dialogue with Jacques. “Jacques will tell me that last time I returned the machine dirty. I will tell him that I returned it the way I took it. Then he will say that that time. when I was dragging the typewriter, I damaged his fence...” The imaginary dialogue continues in this spirit all the way to Jacques’ house. Seeing a friendly owner on the porch of the house, Jean suddenly blurts out: “You can keep your precious car with you.” It is obvious that Jean's behavior is a reaction not to the actual aggressiveness of his neighbor, but to his own memories of it.

The dependence of perception on internal conditions, its mediation by personal factors (motives, emotions, interests) is expressed in the concept of apperception. Attitude, that is, the readiness to perceive something or act in a certain way, also acts as factors influencing perception. Let me give you an example. Subjects in three groups were told that a person was about to enter the room, and they had to estimate approximately his height. In the first group of subjects this person was posed as a laboratory assistant, in the second as a teacher, in the third as a professor (of course, in all three groups it was the same person).

It turned out that in the first group the height of the person was the smallest.

The importance of the perception system for humans

Scientists have been studying higher mental functions of humans (thinking, memory, voluntary action) for many years. The relationship between the system of perception and activity and the development of human thinking has been proven. In turn, thinking has a significant impact on a person’s condition, his abilities and capabilities. Perception is one of the highest mental functions of a person.

In order to live, a person needs to constantly reflect the surrounding reality and respond to the perceived information. Perception provides an individual and at the same time adequate reflection of reality. This is especially important for solving perceptual problems. Perceptual actions in the process of perception play an important role; they ensure the full development of the human psyche.

Simply put, to be healthy and happy, a person needs to be involved in some kind of activity. The brain is designed in such a way that it constantly needs to process and assimilate new information, otherwise it begins to become “lazy.” And a “lazy brain” is the first step to the development of dementia.

Classification of perception

There are two classifications of perception. The first is based on differences in analyzers that play a predominant role in perception. Thus, visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, and kinesthetic perception are distinguished.

The basis of the second classification is the forms of existence of matter. The perception of space, time and movement is distinguished.

The perception of space is the perception of shape and size. The relative position of objects, their relief, distance and direction. In the perception of the spatial properties of things, tactile and kinesthetic sensations play a certain role, but the basis is visual data.

Two mechanisms play a significant role in the perception of magnitude: accommodation and convergence. Accommodation is a change in the refractive power of the lens by changing its curvature. When perceiving close objects, the shape of the lens becomes more convex, while distant objects, on the contrary, become concave. Convergence is the bringing together of the visual axes on a fixed object.

The perception of depth and distance is carried out thanks to binacularity. Even though we see with both eyes, there is only one image, not two. This is achieved due to the presence of corresponding points on the retina, that is, points on the retina of one eye correspond to points on the retina of the other eye.

Perception of the direction in which objects are located is possible not only with the help of the visual, but also with the help of the auditory, motor and olfactory analyzer.

The perception of time is a reflection of objective duration: the speed and sequence of phenomena of reality. This type of perception is based on a rhythmic change of excitation and inhibition in the central nervous system. The so-called biological clock—cyclical phenomena—heartbeat, breathing rhythm, sleep and wakefulness, the appearance of hunger and satiety are of great importance. Kinaesthetic and auditory sensations are involved in the perception of time.

The perception of time is determined by the content that fills it. So, busy with interesting activities, we don’t notice. How time flies. While idle, we, on the contrary, do not know how to kill time. However, remembering, we will evaluate the first interval as longer. compared to the second. This phenomenon reveals the law of the filled time period. Individual differences also affect the subjective assessment of time: for example, some people show a strong tendency to underestimate time, while others overestimate it.

The perception of time is also influenced by a person's emotions. The waiting time for a desirable event is painful, and the waiting time for an undesirable event is painful. This reveals the law of emotional determinism of time assessment. It is also reflected in the fact that time filled with events with a positive emotional connotation is reduced in experience, while time filled with events with a negative emotional sign increases: “Sad hours are long,” says Romeo.

“Happy hours don’t notice,” Griboyedov notes.

The perception of motion is a reflection of the change in position that objects occupy in space. There are two ways to perceive movement:

1. When the image of an object on the retina remains more or less motionless.

2. The eye remains relatively motionless, and the image of the object is mixed on the retina.

There are real and apparent movements.

An example of apparent movement is stroboscopic movement, on the principle of which cinema is built. It is known that the visual sensation does not disappear immediately, therefore, when frames flicker (24 frames per second), we do not see this flickering, but see a stable image.

From the standpoint of Gestalt psychology, several special works have been carried out on the perception of movement. K. Duncker posed the question: due to what conditions, when spatial relations change in our field of vision, some of the perceived objects seem to be moving, others motionless. So, for example, why does it seem to us that the moon is moving, and not the clouds? According to Duncker. An object that is clearly localized on some other object is perceived as moving: the figure moves, not the background. Thus, when the moon is fixed among the clouds, it is perceived as moving.

E. Oppenheimer also showed that of two objects, the smaller one usually seems to move. The object that undergoes the greatest qualitative and quantitative changes also seems to move.

Beginning of the form

End of form

Beginning of the form

End of form

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Chapter 15. Perceptual Processes

IN MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

15.1. The concept of perceptual processes

Perception,

or
perception,
are the processes of reflection of objects or phenomena with their direct impact on the senses.
There are different types of perception depending on which analyzer (sensory organ) plays the leading role in it - visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic , olfactory, gustatory.
Depending on the form of existence of matter, they distinguish between the perception of
space, direction, magnitude
(which, in turn, distinguishes the perception of shape, distance, depth, perspective, etc.) and the perception
of time.
Perception is divided depending on the degree of complexity, the deployment of its process itself:
simultaneous
(“single-stage”, instantaneous) and
successive
(relatively divided into micro-stages), as well as according to the degree of awareness -
voluntary and
involuntary
perception
.
Perception has a number of basic properties: objectivity, integrity, structure, meaningfulness, selectivity, constancy, dependence
on a person’s past experience
(apperception), limited volume.
The process of perception includes a number of stages (phases of perception) that naturally replace each other:
detection, discrimination, identification, categorization, recognition, recognition.
All these types, properties, phases, patterns are preserved in management activities, providing an adequate and meaningful, substantive and structured reflection of external information.
They form mechanisms for the formation of sensory experience
. For example, the property of selectivity of perception plays an important role, ensuring the identification of the most significant features of the external situation. No less important is the property of structure, which allows us to perceive situations holistically (panoramic), but at the same time internally ordered. The property of apperception ensures constant “linking” of perceived information with professional and personal experience, as well as its “decoding” - decoding.

Individual style differences in perception also play a certain role in management activities. There are two main styles - analytical

and
synthetic
and two additional ones - analytical-synthetic and emotional.
“Synthetics” are characterized by a tendency to generalize reflection of phenomena and to determine their general, basic meaning. “Analysts,” on the contrary, are characterized by a tendency to highlight parts, details, details. The analytical-synthetic type is characterized by a combination of these features, however, with less severity of both. The emotional type is characterized by an increased sensory reaction to a situation, which, as a rule, interferes with its adequate perception. Of course, the third, analytical-synthetic, type of perception is the best for management activities; the first two are less effective; the fourth acts as a contraindication to management. Finally, among the general characteristics of perception, it is necessary to note such an important individual feature as observation. This is a general characteristic of perception, derived from all its other features. It consists of selective, arbitrary, meaningful and linked to an assessment based on past experience, recording the important and most significant features of the situation. In relation to management activities, it is customary to talk not just about observation, but about “sophisticated observation-technique”
(B.M. Teplov) as an important quality of a leader.

15.2. Specificity of perceptual processes in management activities

It is determined by two main circumstances. Firstly, perception is inextricably linked with all other cognitive processes (primarily with memory, thinking), which is expressed in its property of apperception, its dependence on professional management experience. It, in fact, merges with them and acts not just as a reception of information, but also as its assessment, comprehension, and formation of an attitude towards it. The complex nature of management activity to the maximum extent requires the synthetic participation in it of all cognitive processes. Because of this, perception in management activities is interpreted quite broadly - in its relationships with all other cognitive processes. It is very difficult (and not necessary) to “forcibly” isolate it from the general information interaction of the manager with the external environment. For example, a typical approach is that perception is defined as “the intellectual awareness of stimuli derived from sensations” [113].

Secondly, these stimuli themselves are the “material” of perception. The activities of a leader are extremely specific. The information of perception is not so much objects - objects

the external world (although, of course, they too), as
subjects
are individuals in all the diversity and inconsistency of their qualities, characteristics, properties, intentions.
Thus, perception in the activities of a leader is, first of all, personal, subjective (more precisely, interpersonal) perception. The subject of perception is such a complex and specific object, identical in its parameters to the very subject of perception, which is the “other person”. Therefore, the specificity of perceptual processes in management activities is that here they appear in their own special form - as interpersonal perception, as social perception.
The term “social perception” was proposed by the American psychologist J. Bruner in 1947 to refer to the perception of “social objects”,

by which were meant other people, social groups and even “large social communities”1.
Social perception covers a wide range of phenomena—its varieties. This is, firstly, individual
perception (the perception of a person by a person).
It depends on whether the person belongs to the same group as the perceiver or to another group (the “friend or foe” phenomenon). This is, secondly, the individual’s perception of certain groups
as a whole, which is also different in relation to his own and out-groups.
Finally, thirdly, this is the so-called intergroup
perception of each other by groups, as well as
self-perception
of itself. All these types of social perception literally permeate the content of management activities and form the basis of its communicative function. They, however, are supplemented by another important factor - the specificity of perception, depending on which plane - subordinate or coordination - they unfold. These are differences in social perception along the “vertical” and “horizontal” sides. When studying the processes of social perception, a large array of specific results was obtained, and many interesting patterns were discovered. To characterize the activities of a manager, the following data are most significant.

Firstly, this is a characteristic of the general structure of the process

social perception and its main components.
They are: the perceiving subject
(individual or group), the perceived
object
(another subject or group),
the process
of perception itself (receiving information),
decoding
information and creating an image of the “other”, active
actions to search for
additional information about the object of perception,
correction
(when necessary) of the original image. This process involves the involvement of rather complex psychological mechanisms - in particular, identification, empathy, reflection, standardization, stereotyping, which will be discussed below.

Secondly, it is the disclosure of the connection between the accuracy of social perception and the effectiveness of a leader.

The processes of interpersonal perception are a necessary
condition
for any joint, including managerial, activity. In general, it is shown that there is a rather complex, nonlinear relationship between accuracy, differentiation of social perception and the effectiveness of group activity; between these same parameters of perception and the success of management activities. Too low accuracy and completeness of perception, just like too high one, is accompanied by less successful activity. Success is maximum at a certain, rather high, but still intermediate value of perception accuracy. Regularities of this kind characterize the relationship of the optimum (and not the maximum - “the more, the better”)1.

The processes of social perception of a leader, as well as the nature of their connection with the effectiveness of his activities, are influenced by the marginality of his status. At the same time, two groups of managers are distinguished: those focused on the requirements of higher levels of the organization and those focused on the managed group (subordinates). The second type is characterized by greater accuracy of perception and its stronger influence on the effectiveness of activity. In general, the following main features of the leader’s perception of his subordinates are identified [70]: 1) transfer of the general impression of the subordinate to the assessment of his individual characteristics - both business and personal (“generalization effect”); 2) overestimation of those subordinates who support the leader; 3) overestimation of those subordinates who express opinions similar to the leader; 4) underestimation of those subordinates who do not support the leader and express judgments that contradict his opinion; 5) the manager blocks information coming to him from people who have received a negative assessment from him.

In this regard, another important question arises: about the adequacy of the leader’s perception of the group he leads. It is especially important for effective leadership, since the effectiveness of joint activities decisively depends on how “accepted” the leader is by the group (organization). Foreign studies have developed a kind of standard for how a leader should be perceived by his subordinates in order for his activities to be effective: firstly, as “one of us”; secondly, as “like most of us”; thirdly, as “the best of us”; fourthly, it must “correspond to expectations”, i.e. meet the expectations of group members. The most studied and richest in factual material is the area of ​​social perception that is associated with the description of its main phenomena,

effects, manifestations (“phenomenological direction”). All these effects and phenomena have one thing in common. They are at the same time a kind of “errors” (a manifestation of inaccuracies in social perception), and the most important patterns, the causes of which are rooted in the fundamental characteristics of the psyche. Let us note those of them that are of the greatest interest and significance for characterizing management activities.

"Halo effect"

(haloeffect) is the most famous among all the “errors” of interpersonal perception. Its essence is that the general favorable impression (opinion) of a person is transferred to the assessment of his unknown traits, which are also perceived as positive. Conversely, a general negative impression also leads to a negative evaluation of those traits that are unknown. This effect increases with a decrease in general awareness of the object of perception; in this case, it itself serves as a kind of means of replenishing the lack of information about the object.

"Primacy Effect"

consists in a tendency to a strong overestimation of the first information about a person, in its fixation and high stability in the future in relation to other information received later. It is also called the “acquaintance effect”, or “first impression”. As research shows, this initial information is extremely important subjectively; it receives a subjective assessment disproportionate to its objective importance and is very difficult to correct in the future. This effect is based primarily on unconscious evaluation mechanisms. However, it has been shown that in a significant proportion of cases this effect is by no means just an “error”, since it gives, although a rough, approximate, but still quite accurate result1.

"Novelty effect"

unlike the previous one, it does not refer to the perception of a stranger, but to the perception of an already familiar person.
It consists in the fact that the latter, i.e. newer information turns out to be subjectively the most significant. “This
applies not only and further not so much to information about the external characteristics of the subject, but also to his, for example, speech behavior. Therefore, there is a rule according to which the conversation should end with some effective phrase, since it is this that is best captured by the interlocutor and most of all influences his opinion and behavior.

The last two effects are due to a common psychological mechanism— the mechanism of stereotyping.

All phenomena caused by it are sometimes separated into a separate group - the group of
“stereotyping effects”.
A stereotype is some stable image of a phenomenon or person, which is used as a means, a kind of “shortcut”, a scheme when interacting with these phenomena. It arises on the basis of “common” ideas about the essence of certain phenomena that have developed in everyday life (or in professional activity). It also arises on the basis of limited past experience, as a result of the desire to draw conclusions on the basis of limited information. Very often, the effects of this group arise in relation to group or professional affiliation (“all accountants are pedants”), but often also on the basis of purely everyday ideas (“fat people are good-natured, thin people are bilious”)1.

Stereotyping as a mechanism and reason for the group of effects that arises on its basis cannot be assessed from the standpoint of “good or bad.” It is twofold: by simplifying the process of perception, a person unwittingly “pays” for this simplification with the probability of erroneous perception. One of the relatively independent varieties of this phenomenon is the so-called modeling errors.

This is an image, a certain model of a person, formed on the basis of stereotypes and arising even
before the start of
interpersonal interaction, on the basis of preliminary information about him.
Modeling errors, therefore, arise on the basis of an incompletely adequate pre-perceptual setting.
It is not entirely adequate because it is formed under the influence of stereotyping.

In this regard, the experiments of the domestic psychologist A.A. became textbook. Bodaleva. Students in two groups were shown the same photograph of a man; one group was previously informed that this was a “hardened criminal,” and the other that this was a “prominent scientist.” They were then asked to describe the person in the photo. The results were diametrically opposed and fully consistent with the pre-perceptual setting. Not only as a whole, but also in individual parts, the face of the photograph was interpreted in accordance with it. Thus, “deep-set eyes” testified to either “deeply hidden anger” or “deep intelligence”, and a massive chin protruding forward - either “determination to go to the end in a crime”, or “willpower on the path of knowledge”.

A particular type of modeling error, but important specifically for management activities, is a kind of “ technocratic perception”

subordinates.
The manager “models” the subordinate on the basis of his official and professional affiliation and builds the image as he should be, based on this affiliation, and not on the basis of the characteristics of the real person. This phenomenon is a particular manifestation of the general technocratic, manipulative
leadership style. It is often a source of interpersonal conflicts in the “manager-subordinate” vertical. From here follows the well-known rule of humanistic management: one must see a person in a subordinate, and not a subordinate in a person; to lead not positions, but people.

"The Leniency Effect"

consists of an unreasonably positive perception by the leader of his subordinates and exaggeration of their positive traits while underestimating the negative ones;
in the opinion that they will “get better.” Its basis is the desire to protect oneself from possible conflicts that inevitably arise during an objective assessment of negative traits. This effect is more often observed among leaders of democratic and especially permissive styles. For leaders of an authoritarian style, it “turns around” and appears as the “hyper-demanding effect,”
or the “prosecutor effect.”

The effect of “physiognomic reduction”

consists of a not entirely justified and, as a rule, hasty conclusion about the internal psychological characteristics of a person based on his external appearance [70].

the “effect of negative asymmetry of initial self-esteem”, is more complex and has a group conditionality.

(OANS) [70]. Initially, it is the other group (“They”) that has more pronounced qualitative certainty in perception than its own group (“We”). But in the future, the first is assessed worse and less accurately than the second (one’s own). This is one of the typical sources of behavior of a leader who sets “other” individuals and “other” groups as an example to his subordinates, but does not adequately assess the advantages of “his” group—“not seeing a prophet in his own country.”

A kind of “mirror” version of this phenomenon is the opposite effect: polarization with a “plus” sign of the assessments of members of one’s own group (“We are overestimation”) and with a “minus” sign of members of the out-group (“They are underestimation”). This effect is based on a mechanism for strengthening the group’s self-identity, emphasizing its significance and value, and, consequently, one’s importance as its leader.

Such polarization is a special case and at the same time one of the reasons for a more general phenomenon, which is called the phenomenon of “in-group favoritism.”

It consists of the tendency to favor in perception and value judgments members of one's own group as opposed to members of some other group (or groups).
This phenomenon, as it were, sets the “most favored nation regime” for interpersonal relationships and perceptions of members within the group (compared to intergroup connections). In terms of the relationship between the leader of a group (organization) and his subordinates, he acquires additional specific features. Firstly, he can become, and most often becomes, selective in relation to individual members of the group. Secondly, at the same time it hypertrophies, transforming into the well-known phenomenon of protectionism,
i.e. moves from the plane of perception to the plane of action.

The phenomenon of “presumption of reciprocity”

(illusion of reciprocity) lies in a person’s stable tendency to perceive the attitude towards him from the people around him as similar to his own attitude towards them.
The reason for the phenomenon of “presumption of reciprocity” is that exactly this is similar, i.e. equal treatment, subjectively presented as the most “fair”. The assumption of reciprocity is a kind of “starting point” from which interpersonal relationships begin to be built. For a manager, it is at the same time a regulator—a restraining mechanism. It forces him to remember that unfair assessments can cause a “boomerang effect”
on the part of subordinates.
The phenomenon of “assumption of similarity”
consists in the tendency of the subject to believe that other people significant to him perceive others in the same way as he does. He transfers his perception of other people onto his subordinates. Thus, a leader is inclined, as a rule, to believe that his subordinates’ perception of both other people and himself is exactly the same as his own perception. Moreover, he will structure his behavior and relationships with subordinates in such a way as to cultivate and strengthen this “unity of perception and assessments.” In extreme terms, this phenomenon can also go beyond perception and transform into the phenomenon of imposition of opinions. Two more phenomena—the “mirror image” and favoritism—have similar content and are as follows. Members of two groups (usually in conflict) perceive the same personality traits as positive in members of their own group and as negative in members of the other group.

A characteristic “error” of perception, which, however, is caused not only by personal factors, but by more general factors, is the phenomenon of ignoring the informational value of “what did not happen.”

Any leader knows well that often what is much more important is not what a person said or did, but what he did not say or do. In practice, however, this understanding is not always supported by actions due to the specified effect. Moreover, “information about what did not happen” is not only underestimated, but is often ignored as not occurring and therefore not taken into account at all1. Everyone knows the expression “silence is a sign of consent” as the simplest case of this phenomenon. In management, however, it is often quite complex and requires special understanding. Underestimating this very often leads to mistakes in management. The reason for this phenomenon is that the interpretation and understanding of “information about what did not happen” is more difficult and, therefore, complicates the already complex activities of the manager. At the same time, one of the most important features of a leader’s professional competence and “experience” is precisely the correct assessment of what could have happened, but did not happen, and why it did not happen.

The considered phenomena of social perception reveal the specificity and complexity of perceptual processes in management activities. Along with them, another category of phenomena of interpersonal perception plays a significant role in the activities of a leader. It, however, is more general in nature and is closely related to intellectual processes. These phenomena characterize not only how people perceive and evaluate others, but also how they try to explain the reasons

the actions they perceive, the behavior of others.
In Western psychology, this direction was called causal attribution 1 ,
developed in the works of F. Heider, E. Jones, L. Ross, R. Nisbett and others.

The basic and original phenomenon of causal attribution is that people tend to attribute their behavior to situational factors.

(i.e., the influence of “circumstances”) on them, and the behavior of others - by
personal factors
(i.e., their psychological characteristics)2. This tendency is general in nature, although it depends on the “sign” of the behavioral event being assessed—its success or failure. In case of failure, it is maximally expressed, and in case of success it can change to the opposite. This reveals another fundamental feature of attribution. People tend to explain personal successes by their personal traits, their attitude to business, and failures by circumstances, external reasons. The basis of all these phenomena is the human desire not only to perceive events as such, but also to try to explain them, to identify their causes. The search and discovery of these reasons occurs, however, on different planes, depending on whose actions are to be explained - “myself”, “my actions” or “others” and their actions.

Attribution permeates literally all management activities and is especially important for the implementation of the evaluative functions of a manager. At the same time, in his activity it becomes more complex and acquires additional features. The fact is that in this activity two different directions of attribution collide. The leader, according to the general law of attribution, is inclined to explain the failure of any event by reasons external to it. But they will precisely be “others” - people external to him (subordinates). However, subordinates themselves also act according to this law, explaining the general failure also by external factors - poor leadership, unsuccessful organization. Such a clash is one of the most important and most typical causes of conflicts along the leader-subordinate line, rooted in the psychological mechanisms of attribution. The way these conflicts are resolved, as well as the leadership style in general, is significantly influenced by a specific personal quality associated with the attribution process - locus of control.

personality.
It consists in the general tendency of the subject to attribute the causes of events and his actions primarily to either external or internal factors. A person can localize these reasons in different ways - factors that determine and explain (“control”) certain phenomena. This is where the term “locus of control” comes from. Depending on this, two types of personalities are distinguished - internal and external. Internals
are characterized by an internal locus of control;
They are characterized by a desire to explain events by internal factors (their personal characteristics, motivation, diligence, knowledge). Externals
have an external locus of control; characterized by a tendency to “externalize” causes outside oneself and explain phenomena by external factors. They may be circumstances, the influence of other people, bad luck (or luck), lack of funds and time, etc.

All the considered patterns and effects of the social-perceptual plan in the activities of a leader are determined by the specifics of the main object of his managerial influences - the personalities of the people subordinate to him. At the same time, no matter how complex and specific this “social object” of perception may be, it does not exhaust the content of all the information that a manager has to perceive. The main feature of management information (or, using psychological terminology, the information basis of activity

leader) - its huge volume.
This feature is inextricably linked with another important feature of management information - its fundamental heterogeneity and different quality
of content.
It includes diverse categories of information sources - information about subordinates, about technology, “about facts” (events), “about opinions”, about the current state of the organization, about forecasts of events, directive and normative information and much more. The fundamental heterogeneity of the information base is due to the main property of organizational management systems - their complex, sociotechnical type.
Therefore, the information basis of a manager’s activity places particularly stringent and specific requirements on the process of perception as a whole as a means of obtaining information.

The essence of these requirements is connected with the following contradiction. On the one hand, the manager “must see everything,” preferably not only in general, but also in detail (the requirement of “sophisticated observation”). On the other hand, the most important psychological feature of perception—the limited scope of it—does not allow this to be achieved. The way out of the situation is that the information basis of the manager’s activity is subject to natural transformations and a special organization. They occur on the basis of features specific to the process of perception. The main ones among them are integrity, structure, selectivity, objectivity of perception. Therefore, the perceived information is subject to structuring, dividing into parts, highlighting the main ones, comprehension, grouping, systematization - in other words, it is organized

in accordance with the characteristics of perception. The leading role in this organization is played by the property of apperception of perception - the connection of currently perceived information with a person’s past experience. Therefore, the very perception of information by a leader is inseparable from his professional experience; it is organized and directed by him. The measure of accuracy, adequacy and completeness of information perception therefore very much depends on the characteristics of the professional experience and knowledge of the manager1. Such an organized, meaningful information base is perceived easier, more adequate, more complete and faster. In psychology, there are two main means of ensuring the structuring of the information basis of professional activity.

The first of these means is the “operational perception units” (OPUs). Operational units are understood as any objects or their groups that are subjectively perceived as integral

and
meaningful,
separate from other objects.
These are like “pieces”, blocks of information; those structural elements into which the subject arbitrarily divides the huge information flow that affects him. Operational units do not necessarily include any one object (or attribute) or individual person. Operational units are “many things perceived as one” - as one semantic object. For example, for a senior manager, such an operational unit may not be each individual member of the organization, but a group, a division as a whole. But this is no longer typical for the primary leader: his operational units should be more fractional. Operating units undergo organization: they are ordered, their comparative importance is determined, their hierarchy is built, they are specified and often enlarged. Because of this, the entire information basis of a manager’s activity is an orderly and organized system of operational units. Operational units can vary greatly in volume, in their “capacity” and information capacity. To an extremely minimal extent, it can be, for example, one or another personal characteristic of a subordinate perceived by the manager. In an extremely general form, it can be, for example, information about the state of the socio-psychological climate in any large unit. The manager perceives it and takes it into account in his work as one
of the information signs.
Thus, their information capacity and value depend on the size of operational units - the extent to which they fulfill their main role - organizing and structuring the information base. Ultimately, the total volume of the information basis of the manager’s activities depends on the size of the operational units1. The size of operational units is the size of the “package” that is used to organize information about the organization. At the same time, operational units must be adequate
to the objective content of external information.
This means that they are built on the basis of real, inherent features of the organization and reflect its technological and structural features. Finally, operational units must be dynamic.
If necessary, they must allow either splitting into smaller units (decomposition) or enlargement (synthesis) into even larger units. Thus, the general structure of all operational units provides a “general view” of the organization, a panoramic vision of it, and the ability to “disaggregate” these units provides a vision of details, “subtleties” (“sophisticated observation”). The system of operational units is a means of seeing “both the forest and individual trees” at the same time [58]. The higher the hierarchical level of the manager, the larger, more generalized, less detailed the operational units and vice versa. Operational units are not specified from the outside, but are formed by the subject himself. They are a product of the formation of professional experience as a whole, but at the same time they are an indicator of its maturity.

The second means of “fighting” information redundancy is the mechanism of forming an operational image of the managed object (organization)2. An operational image is an integrated, meaningful and orderly system of operational units that presents generalized information about the main features of the organization. The operational image, as a special psychological formation formed on the basis of the main laws of perception, is characterized by a number of important laws and properties. The main ones among them are the following [72].

Integrity.

An operational image is always a generalized image of an organization, the individual components of which are structured and synthesized.
This property provides that “overall vision” of the organization, which is so necessary for the leader - the
panoramic perception of the leader, the ability to “keep the general picture of what is happening before the mental gaze.”

Schematized.

An operational image is not only information about individual features of an organization, but also about the connections between them, i.e. about its structure. Therefore, firstly, it includes these structural relationships in a schematic, visual form. Secondly, its content is also schematized - simplified, abstracted from minor details.

Conciseness.

The operational image, due to its schematization, as well as for reasons of convenience of working with it, tends to become more and more compact and, therefore, easier to work with. Hence the term “operational” itself - it means convenient to use, most suitable for accurate, fast and effective use. It is becoming more and more concise, which, however, is achieved not due to “information losses”, but due to better organization of information in the image.

Pragmatism.

The operational image is formed under the direct influence of the main management tasks and goals of the organization.
It initially adapts to them, is formed in the form that best suits them. It includes only that information that contributes to the goals and objectives of the organization, and all other information is excluded. In this regard, to characterize operational images in the activities of a leader, the concept of de-directed perception
[M. Arbib]. This is perception, the process and result of which (image) is subject to the achievement of a goal, specific actions to implement it [4].

Functional deformation.

In the structure of the operational image, those components that are most important for achieving the organization’s goals come to the fore and become hyper-emphasized.
All others are subjectively underestimated, and often completely ignored. Dynamism.
The operational image, being quite stable, should not be “rigid” at the same time.
It must allow for the possibility of transformation when external conditions change. Thus, the operational image also acquires the property of adaptability
- adaptability to situational changes in operating conditions.

So, the main features of perceptual processes in management activities are determined by the originality of the main object of perception - a person, as well as the heterogeneity and volume of perceived information. The numerous phenomena and patterns of social perception that arise in this case reveal the essence of the perception process in the activities of a leader. These phenomena, interacting with general perceptual patterns, determine the generalized means of organizing managerial perception - the formation of operational units of perception and operational images.