Perception: Sense and Similar Situation

Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions (sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste) in order to give meaning to their environment. In other words, this is how we make sense of the reality.
It is crucial because people’s behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself.
The world as it is perceived is the world that is behaviorally important.

What are the factors that influence perception?

Attribution Theory
When individuals observe behavior, they attempt to determine whether it is internally or externally caused. In other words, we try to assign or attribute an internal /external reason for a specific behavior demonstrated by a person. This is one of the most crucial applications of perceptual process and it’s based on three factors.
Distinctiveness: The extent to which a person behaves in the same/different way in different situations. If in different situations, person behaves in same way, distinctiveness is low. Whereas, if in different situations, behavior is different, distinctiveness is high.
Consensus: The extent to which other people behave in the same way in a similar situation. If a person’s behavior is same as others in a particular situation, consensus is high. Whereas, if a person’s behavior is not same as others in that situation, consensus is low.
Consistency: the extent to which the person behaves the same way at different times in similar situations. If the person behaves same way in different times (similar situation), consistency is high. If the person does not behave the same way in different times (similar situation), consistency is low.
Based on these concepts, we attribute internal/external causes to individual behavior in the following way:

Errors and Biases in Attribution
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when