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RTL Perception and Perception Checking Canvas
Course: Interpersonal Communications (COM-9)
84 Documents
Students shared 84 documents in this course
University: Riverside City College
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RTL: PERCEPTION & PERCEPTION CHECKING
Foundational to performing a perception check is understanding language use that describes. We covered this
back in the language chapter…but it bears repeating!
Remember, a behavioral description has three parts:
1) who is involved, 2) the particular circumstances, and 3) the actual observable behavior.
Remember these?
EXAMPLE:
Will you just wash the car the right way this time?
When you wash our Civic this coming week-end (who is involved and circumstances) please make sure to rinse
the car first so that the dust doesn’t get ground into the paint. Then mix 1 tablespoon dawn into the 5 gallon
bucket. Use the sponge that is in the bucket. Get the sponge nice and wet first and dunk each time.
Methodically start at the front and then move to the rear of the car. Then completely rinse. Using the white
absorbent towels on the third shelf in the bathroom closet, dry the car, then use the shammy (next to the bucket)
to make sure there are no wet spots or streaks. Make sure to dry the windows and then the rims last with the
towel and then the chamois. Then wash the windows using the Windex with Ammonia and paper towels. Then
detail the wheels last by using, etc. (very specific descriptions…exaggerated for illustrative purposes)
1. Natasha needs to get real.
2. You can’t rely on Randy.
3. That teacher is so easy!
4. He is so angry.
5. She acts weird.
That work we had done previously (in the language/verbal chapter) also establishes the basis for clearly
understanding the difference between behavioral description and interpretations/opinions/judgments of those
descriptions. Then, we use these behavioral descriptions when we create a perception check. Since we can’t
read each other’s minds, and our interpretations might be inaccurate, perception checking helps us improve
relationships. Its purpose is to verify if our decoding of another’s words/actions/behaviors aligns with their
intended meaning in their encoding of those words/actions/behaviors.
The three parts of a perception check are: 1) a behavioral description (three sub-parts are who is
involved, what circumstances and a description of words and/or action), 2) at least two alternative
interpretations of that behavior, and 3) a request for clarification.
After reading the example below, then complete odds or evens.
Write out a perception check. In the perception checks you create, label each of the three
parts of the perception check. Make sure to also label the three sub parts of the
behavioral description.
EXAMPLE:
Yesterday your friend Erin laughed at a joke about “dumb blonds”. You found it offensive.
