Interpersonal Communication (COMM 2500) CU boulder Midterm

What are the functions of nonverbal codes? What kinds of meaning do they express?

-given more credence and are trusted more than verbal comm forms -emotionally powerful -express universal meaning -continuous and natural -occur in clusters

Analogical Code/comm

-holding stomach when hungry, hands around neck when choking (natural)

What are the key characteristics Trenholm and Jensen identify as marking most relationships?

-interpersonal relationships begin with awareness -interpersonal relationships develop through coordinated interaction -as relationships unfold, we begin to analyze and evaluate them -relationships are influenced by outside forces -our relationships control us as much as we control them -relationships are constructed and maintained through communication

How has the concept of self changed through history?

-it has changed as the idea of what is important has changed

What do critical theorist say about the relationship between language and power?

-language is powerful and we should be aware of the effects of our language choices

What is the Sapir-Worf hypothesis? (Know the two components)

-linguistic determinism: language determines the way we interpret the world -linguistic relativity: if language determines thought, then speakers of different language will experience the world differently. Thought it relative to language

How does the mood-congruity hypothesis (see text) reflect a type of priming?

-memories are more easily retrieved when there is a match between emotional state at the time the original memory was formed and the emotional state when it was retrieved

What are the characteristics of communication?

-ongoing process -creative endeavor -uniquely human -collective activity -regulatory

Social cognition

-the process by which we use socially defined cognitive structures to influence our perceptions

What is communication?

-the process whereby we collectively create and regulate social reality

What is semantic?

-the word -Denotative meaning: conventional meaning of a word ex. gnarly=nasty -Connotative meaning: emotionally charged meaning of a word ex. gnarly=cool

What are the four implications the authors of the text draw from this definition?

-through comm we each create our own reality -too often we allow what we have created through comm to control us -comm always takes place in cultural context

Digital Code/comm

-thumbs up, peace sign (learned)

What are the characteristics of language/verbal codes

-verbal codes consist of discrete, seperable units -language encourages us to create new realities -language gives us the ability to think in new and more complex ways -verbal codes are self-reflexive

What is the theory of coordinated management of meaning (CMM)? Think about how different levels of meaning are used to make sense of messages.

-we know how to use language because we follow rules that tell us how to understand and produce speech acts Constitutive rules: how to recognize them Regulative rules: identify in a given context if the speech act is appropriate or inappropriate

How does priming influence our processing of information (draw from class and Gladwell)?

-what we see at first glance effects our perception of something -we project a characteristic on a person

Types of meta-communication in breakups

1) hostile abrupt style leading to shorter breakup episodes 2. Partners attack each other instead of trying resolve issues 3. Patterns of the same behavior after getting back together 4. Wanting to fix the relationship 5. Influences of outside opportunities and people

Types of family structures

1) power authority structure 2) Decision making structure 3) Interaction structure

How the modal family has changed

1) started with godly family- every facet of social life was centered in family activity 2) Democratic family- less formal less hierarchal family structure more tender 3) Compassionate family- extolled the virtues of spouses as friends and lovers and parents and children as friends

Types of meta-communication during renewals

1. Explicit declarations of getting together 2. Change often led to renewals 3. Relational transitions viewed as a process of ups and downs not a finite end 4. Redefine the relationship 5. Negotiate transitions address past problems 6. Internally processing transitions

Most hurtful messages from adoption study

1. Negative comments about China's history or culture 2. Stereotypes of Asians 3. Compliment to parent for "saving them"

Most supportive messages from adoption study

1. Positive comments or questions about China's culture 2. The adoption process (questions) 3. Compliments on children's appearance

Rules of self disclosure

1. make sure that disclosures are appropriate to the topic at hand 2. Begin with safe non risky disclosures 3. Disclose in small doses 4. Match the level and amount of the other's disclosure 5. Remember that style of disclosure is as important as substance 6. Reserve your most important disclosures for significant ongoing relationships

5 ways we can define self concept

1. self as narrative 2. self as cognitive schema 3. self as behavior 4. self as relational achievement 5.self as internal dialogue

Factors about roles (four of them)

1.roles are learned 2. Roles are generalized guides for behavior 3. Roles affect beliefs about self 4. People have multiple roles

Main findings: Baxter and Bullis

26 types of turning points 14 supra types connected to relational commitment some very strong some very negative Half of the turning points we involved explicit metacommunication between the parties The proportion of total turning points that were negative correlated negatively with current satisfaction

Cultural differences

5 in total

Stagnating (relationship model)

Both members have developed such an expectation of unpleasant and unproductive talk they feel there is little left to be said

Circumscribing (relationship model)

Partners restrict their communication with each other on a regular basis

Examples of thin slicing from Blink

Tennis coach can tell when a player is going to double fault within seconds because of his years of past tennis experience and knowledge he has unconscious knowledge helping him reach his judgement

Topical segmentation(Dialectic)

The couples choose autonomy or closeness in some activities and closeness in others

Principle of least effort

The tendency to rely on pre-existing concepts rather than specific details

What is a speech act? Illocutionary force? What do we have to do to understand a speech act?

The things we intend language to do (promising, questioning, threatening etc)

What is syntactic?

The utterance -meaning based on word order, how the words are presented

Attribution bias

When someone does something, we attribute their actions to their character rather than to the situation

Narrative Theory

everyone is a story teller we construct meaning through our stories

Social comparison theory

everyone needs to know how they compare to others; knowledge about self comes from others

Naive realism

experimental belief that what we perceive and to a lesser extent what we remember, are relatively complete and accurate representations of the world

Discursive View of Family

family identity is created through relationships and connections not necessarily blood relations

Self perception theory

forming identity by observing own behaviors

Intiating phase

greetings and other types of contact required by the situation

What is process competence?

having knowledge about communication

What is performative competence

having the ability to perform communication skills

Noble self

values consistency above all

Power authority structure

we observe how power structures first by analyzing our own family (positional structure- clear hierarchy in the family)

According to Bruner, what is the relationship between personal identity and autobiographical narrative?

we use story telling to construct narrative and meaning. your autobiographical narrative shapes yourself and what you identify yourself as being

Decision making structure

who makes the decisions in the family for example maybe the dad generally makes the decisions or children have a large influence on decions (consensus decision making style- when members try to make a unanimous decision)

What is muted group theory?

women feel less comfortable in public situations than men

Modal self

"fashionable self" the ideal self of the time

What are the characteristics of nonverbal communication (aspects of nonverbal that make them so powerful)?

-Express meaning -Modify verbal meaning -Regulate flow and interaction

What are the five theories of self, and the major concept behind each?

-Self as narrative: self as the role we think we belong to -Self as cognitive schema: self based on our initial perception of ourselves -Self as behavior: self based on what we do -Self as relational achievement: self based on relationships -Self as internal dialogue: what we tell ourselves

What are the three nonverbal message systems?

-Visual Communication System -Auditory Communication System -Invisible Communication System

How do culture and context shape how competence is framed or understood?

-We all have culture, we are all influenced by it. Our communication is meaningful to the extent that it makes sense in the culture we are immersed in -Competence has to be understood in a cultural context because there is no universal model (depends on the culture)

Explain the attribution biases we display and how they influence our explanations of what caused behavior.

-We tend to attribute others' actions as relating to their character instead of understanding their situation -This influences our opinion of the person

How are roles "chosen"? (Consider how role support, role commitment, and rewards influence the salience of a role)

-degree of support received for role -amount of commitment to role -kinds of rewards received

Explain Goffman's Dramaturgic view of communication as performance.

-face, facework, front etc

Self as Behavior

Behavioral self- reflexive view self understanding we bring to a situation shapes the way we communicate and in turn the way we communicate can influence and revise what we think of ourselves

Turning Point

Events or occurrences that are associated with change in a relationship

Rhetorical reflectors

Change depending on who they are around

Deception Detection (2 types of thinking)

Conscious strategy- revolves around logical definitive process that slowly finds answer Unconscious strategy- fast and frugal unconscious decisions made without really thinking about it more of a feeling

Cyclic alternation ((Dialectic)

Couples cycle through periods of togetherness

Moderation(Dialectic)

Couples might compromise or dilute both extremes can pull towards either openness or closeness

External functions of family

Cultural transmission- pass on cultural values Accommodation-encourages members to adapt to many changes society goes through

Action orientation doing vs being

Doing cultures- set goals accomplish things Being cultures- stress personal relationships over task accomplishment

How History has influenced interpersonal interactions (Early industrial)

Home a haven in heartless world children educated by mother formal and exacting identity demonstrated through character self effacement women purer and moral than men

What are some ways social groups control their members and sanction deviant behavior (from class discussion)

How do social roles relate to social control?

Exemplars

Images of actual objects people or events we have encountered in the past

Intensifying (relationship model)

Increased formality use of we and "us" growing closer focus on indirect suggestions surrounding the idea of them dating

Connections to others

Individualism- the basic unit is the individual individuals are expected to make their own decisions Collectivist- basic unit is a group and group decisions are made

Violation Valence

Our perception of the positive or negative value of the violating behavior (example on a crowded bus personal space violation is forgiven due to circumstance)

*From Gladwell, what is a "Warren Harding error"?

Judging that someone will be good at something based on something else. Associating characteristics with contexts that it may not actually apply. Warren Harding looked the part, but was one of the worst presidents ever.

Rationale for studying these families? (Korean adoption families)

Little research has been done on adoption about parents who adopt children of different race and the discursive identity challenges they must manage/ face threats from others

Communication styles

Low context- context does not play a large part because meaning is explicitly stated in words High context- a lot of the meaning is implicit and unstated

Attitudes toward time m-time vs p-time

M-time= monochromic time make their activities fit their schedule rather than fitting their schedule to their activities (Murica) P-time cultures- preset schedules are seldom followed and several tasks may be undertaken at the same time (Europe lol)

How do emotions affect perception

Mood congruity hypothesis- indicates that memories are more easily retrieved when there is a match between the emotional state at the time (aka when your mad you remember other times when you were mad) our current mood affects our perception of the world

Integrating (relationship model)

Organize everyday lives around eachother

Differentiating (relationship model)

Partners are reminded they are separate individuals that have concerns outside the relationship

Avoiding

Physical avoidance soon follows the partners being rearranging their lives to avoid the necessity of face to face interaction

Self as internal dialogue

Presenting self- particular self that steps forward in any given interaction and engages another person

Why study turning points?

Realize relationship is not a smooth course it's a series of choppy ups and downs Help understand relationship development and deterioration

Event Schemata

Registers our beliefs and expectations about different kinds of social situations

Self as relational achievment

Relational self- refers to the particular self identity we normally display in a given relationship

How motivations influence perception

When primed or conscious motives are present it can affect our daily perceptions (aka an architect will be annoyed if he notices the stairs aren't level)

Dialectic tensions

Selection Cyclic Alternation Topical Segmentation Moderation Disqualification Reframing

Experimenting

Small talk continued interaction desire to present self image with a norm of politeness trying to figure out who the other person is

Explain how personal constructs, implicit personality theory, and primacy/recency influence our assessments of others.

These play a part in how we judge other people. Personal constructs- things we seek out in other people (we date people who have similar characteristics) Primacy effect- we often remember the first thing and the last thing we are told

Expectancy Violations Theory

Two factors at work 1) violation valence 2) reward value of the other person

Bonding

Two people's lives have become intertwined to their mutual satisfaction private commitments ect..

When we say every message has a content and relationship meaning, what does this suggest?

We suggest that the content of the message says something about the relationship between you and person you are talking to. If you say your boss is being a dick today, you are therefore comfortable talking to this person about your feelings. Your saying that implies that you do not like the boss (this is found in the content of the message).

Based on what we learned about perception processes, what would we tend to notice in others?

We tend to notice in others what we want to see

Confirmation bias

What we tend to believe, we find evidence to support it We ignore the evidence against it

How are self-schemas different from our schemas of others?

a long lasting sense of who you are (personality, appearance etc)

Spontaneous communication

a sender's involuntary display of an inner emotional state and a receiver's direct and immediate sensory awareness of that emotional state

adaptive unconscious

a series of mental processes that is able to affect judgement and decision making, but is out of reach of the conscious mind.

Thin-slicing

a term used in psychology and philosophy to describe the ability to find patterns in events based only on "thin slices", or narrow windows, of experience (unconscious information rapidly being processed)

Myth

adds to the story; -cultural, shared, constructs meaning, makes the world significant! -deals with origins and destiny

Reward Value

assessing the violation of behavior in comparison to a person's status or perceived power even attractiveness that may change perception

Altercasting

choosing someone to be apart of a role for image enhancement

Selection (Dialectic)

choosing time together or apart

Schemata

cognitive structures we use to make sense of the world

What is the developmental approach? (Part two of interpersonal communication)

communication is based on the quality of the relationship. It is something that needs to be developed.

What is the situational approach? (one part of interpersonal communication)

communication is based on the situation (small groups etc.), physical proximity between people, being in contact.

Locus of control vs constraint

control cultures- ones ability to control your own destiny Constraint cultures- external locus of control

Interaction structure-

describes communication channels used most frequently used within a family... (defacto decision making- one family member makes decisions without consulting others)

How History has influenced interpersonal interactions (Modern period)

home site of consumption social institutions take over education, informal friendly outgoing conduct identity shown through personality self promotion valued, gender roles begin to break down

How history has influenced interpersonal interactions in the U.S (colonial)

household site of production children educated by father conduct is impulsive identity derived from social rank community membership women more passionate than men

What is pragmatic?

how language is used in interactions (the speech act)

Prototypes

idea representation of what is typical about members of a class or group

Internal attribution

infer that an event or a person's behavior is due to personal factors such as traits, abilities, or feelings (assuming someone is in a bad mood because they are a mean person)

Self-Schemata

information about ourselves that includes abstractions such as aspirations values attributes preferences and behavioral routines

What is Speech Act?

intentions for language ex. apologies/accusations

Role schema

internal representation of the rules norms and behavioral expectations associated with social roles

Person prototype

mental category we use to classify and label others

Personal construct

mental representation of the attributes we assign to others

Stereotype

mental structure that allows us to use group membership to make predictions about behavior

Rhetorical sensitives

monitor communication during and after interaction to strike a balance

automotives

motivations that operate outside of our awarenss

self as narrative

narrative self- complicated ongoing task we spend most of our childhood gathering primary materials out of which we will eventually fashion a relatively coherent personal myth

Social Comparison Theory

people have a basic need to know how they are doing and need to know how their opinions and abilities stack up to others

External attribution

people infer that a person's behavior is due to situational factors (assuming someone is in a bad mood because of the situation they are currently in)

Role set

people who help us to perform a role. ex. teachers need students, colleagues, TAs etc..

Looking glass self

self from other's reflections

Self as cognitive schema

self-schemata- cognitive structures that organize and guide the processing of self related info

Roles

sets of expectations that governs how persons holding a given position should behave

Internal functions of a family

socialization intellectual development Recreation Emotional support

Biologic view of family

the "natural" or "proper" way to have a family parents that are related to their son or daughter provides strong relationship and bonding

Disqualification(Dialectic)

the couple manages tension through equivocal or indirect means

Reframing(Dialectic)

the couple transforms the issue so that it is viewed as having different level of meaning

What are mindfulness and mindlessness, and how do these relate to dual-processing models (i.e., "system 1 and system 2")?

the dual processing model says that we are of 2 minds we are cognitive processing that is fast and one that is slow and mindful. System 1 is your fast thinking (understanding anger in someones voice immediately) System 2 is your slow thinking (studying for a test, plan wha you're making for dinner). You can be more mindful of things you do, and learn to make better snap judgements)

Self Perception Theory

the one way we learn about who we are is through self observation (we compare how we view ourselves based off our actions compared to others

Social Cognition

the process of using cognitive structures like stereotypes for example

Behavioral self

the sense of self based upon reflections on our actual behavior

Symbolic communication

the use of arbitrary symbols that have been socially defined and are intended to convey specific messages