There are many different processes used in everyday life that affect our communication whether we realize it or not. Specifically, the perception process is a process that has influenced my own communication experiences. According to section 2.1 in the textbook, Communication in the Real World: an Introduction to Communication Studies, the perception process is a way of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information which ultimately affects our communication (Jones, 53). The way that I have used this process in my personal, academic, and professional life illustrates how it has affected my communication.
The first part of the perception process is selecting information. My needs and interests influence how I select the information that I pay attention to. According to the textbook selective attention to things that we think can meet our needs and interests help us meet instrumental needs and get things done (Jones, 55). Professionally, this process of selecting information based on my needs and interests affects my communication where I work at the grocery store. By blinking the light on their register on and off, the cashiers are communicating with me that they need assistance. Other people who are shopping or work in a different department don’t pay attention to the blinking light or ignore it because it does not meet their needs and interests. When I see this information, I become aware that I need to meet the need of doing what is required of me.
While needs and interests help to get things done it can also do the opposite and distract you from what needs to get done. Paying attention to things that interest us but do not meet specific needs is a basic formula for procrastination (Jones, 56). I have selected information because I perceive them to be interesting even though they do not meet my specific needs. Many times, I know that there is going to be a hockey or baseball game on television and I will pay attention to that instead of doing my homework.
The second part of the perception process is organizing the information that has been selected. One way that I organize information that I have selected is in a process called punctuation. Punctuation is a way of organizing information into a timeline in order to determine the cause and effect of our communication with others (Jones, 58). Personally, I am able to analyze my communication experiences and understand the outcome of those experiences due to the timeline that I have organized. Every week, a new work schedule comes out and my friends and I will communicate in a group chat with one another in order to give or receive the new schedule. When this happens, I understand the function of this communication because it is a new week and I have organized this information into a weekly timeline.
The last part of the perception process is interpreting the information that has been selected and organized. In order to interpret information meaning is assigned to that information using schemata. Schemata allows us to assign meaning to information based on knowledge and experience (Jones, 59). My own schemas have made me interpret certain people or things to have connotations or characteristics. The way I interpret information using schemata affects my behavior and decision-making process (Jones, 60). Preexisting information such as statistics or physical characteristics cause me to interpret my baseball teammates to be good or bad players. This schema influences the way I communicate with my teammates based on how I interpret them. It is my assumption that a player I interpret to be good is more likely to be mentally invested in the game and I am less likely to communicate the situation or fundamentals with them because I assume that they are already paying attention. Additionally, I am more likely to communicate the game plan or fundamentals to a player that I have stereotyped to not be as good because my schemata has made me perceive them to not be mentally invested in the game.
Works Cited
Jones, Richard. Communication in the Real World: an Introduction to Communication Studies.
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