PSYC 215 Chapter Notes -Nonverbal Communication, Social Perception, Eye Contact
Document Summary
Social perception processes by which people come to understand one another. People are both perceivers and targets of others" perceptions. People use indirect cues in order to know others: Our first impressions of people are influenced by a person"s appearance, the colour of their clothing, their name, etc. Physiognomy reading a person"s character from their face. People not only read traits from faces, but also use prior knowledge in order to read traits into faces (ex-when told that a man was kind -> later judged his face to be fuller, rounder, and more attractive). 3 possibilities: genetically programmed inferences, learned judgements followed by generalization, an actual link between physical appearances and behaviour (correlations seen between strangers" judgements and an individual"s self-description). We also hold preset notions about what might occur in a particular setting, these are called scripts. The more experience one has had in a particular situation, the more detailed the script will be.