DiYanni R. The Pearson Guide to Critical and Creative Thinking

DiYanni R. The Pearson Guide to Critical and Creative Thinking

  1. Why do you think so many participants failed to see the “gorilla” in the experiment done by the psychologists Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons? Do you think you would have seen it? How do you respond to the conclusions drawn by Alison Gopnik about the medical “gorilla” experiment?

People did not see the gorilla because they did not expect to see it. They were instead focused on counting the balls and thus couldn’t take notice of anything apart from the bounces. This is better explained by DiYanniwho explicitly shows that perception and expectations areconcepts intermarried to affect focus (DiYanni 12). A person only sees what he or she has expected to see leaving out other details that may pop up. Just like this people, I don’t think I could have seen the gorilla since I did not expect to see it there.Alison Gopnik concludes that inattentional blindness is the reason behind not seeing other things in our lives. This is true since a few number of people can see something they had least expected while the majority only focus on their expectations.

  1. How do you respond to the “kissing” scenario? What do you think the woman should have done? Why? Was there a way for the couple to have avoided the possibility of misunderstanding?

The kissing is evident to have been interpreted differently by the couple. Each of them understands this act differently based on cultural differences. According to DiYanni, perception is affected by filters such as culture (p14). The difference in their thinking makes them both enter in a shock when a simple act as kissing makes them confused and with lots of questions in their mind. The woman is not wrong to have acted the way she did since she understood the kissing act according to her culture. She knew this meant something profound and irreversible. However, she could have moved away and explained to the boy what kissing meant to her. Had they conversed, the issue of misunderstanding could not have occurred.

  1. Describe a time when one aspect of your cultural background and experience influenced, or perhaps even caused you to see, experience, and/or understand something very different from someone else. What did you perceive? What did the other person perceive? Why? How did the difference in perception affect your discussion and/or your relationship?

In my culture, a handshake is regarded as a formal way of greeting a person. However, there is this time my friends and I had gone to a meeting, and I stretched my hand to greet one of the guest speakers. To my surprise, he did not shake my hand. It was then that I realized he was from the Middle East and their culture do not embrace handshake due to hygienic matters. Though I felt embarrassed, I learned that we all have a different culture that needs to be respected and valued. In this case, I became aware of greeting people through words provided my facial expression showed a small then it is a sign of respect.

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