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Perceptual Bias Theater
Lynn E. Miller
La Salle University, USA
Richard M. Weiss
University of Delaware, USA
Volume 4: 2011, pp. 43-58; ABSTRACT
Biased perceptions have the potential to create harmful inequities in organizations and to limit strategic search and decision making. Training programs that raise awareness of potential biases have been successful, however, in helping to reduce perceptual errors, especially when participants are actively involved in the learning process. "Perceptual Bias Theater", which can be used as either a classroom or training exercise, requires teams of participants to create and present original skits to portray Pygmalion effects, fundamental attribution errors, stereotyping, halo effects, selective perception, and other common biases. As participants attempt to identify the biases being portrayed in the skits, they are actively involved in learning to recognize and distinguish among the biases. Brief descriptions of some of the skits that teams have presented are given. Survey results indicate that students have found the exercise to be a highly-engaging way to learn about different perceptual biases.
