Chapters 1-4 - Study Guide

Categorization

Cognitive process we use to organize information by placing it into larger groupings of information

Schema

Cognitive structures that help us organize information

Cultural Communication

Communication patterns within a specific community

Rhetoric

Communication that is used to influence the behavior of others; the art of persuasion

Critical Approach

Concerned with how societal forces influence and interact with individual forces

Social Science Approach

(Behaviorist Approach) Focused on the individual

Interpretive Approach

(Rhetorical study) the interpretive approach focuses on the individual, but interpretive communication researchers have goals and assumptions that differ from those who use the social science paradigm.

Ethical Issues of Identity

- How you communicate with people whose identities are more, or less, valued - Language that denigrates or puts down others based on their identities

Social Science - Methods

- Observing subjects in either a laboratory or a naturalistic setting - Surveys - Interviews - Quantitative Method

3 communication processes involved in identity construction

- Reflected Appraisals - Social Comparisons - Self fulfilling Prophecies

3 processes that compose perception

- Selection - Organization - Interpretation

3 major approaches in communication discipline

- social science - interpretive - critical

Why are ethics important?

- they sustain professional success - vital to personal relationships

Behaviorism

A branch of psychology that focuses on observable behavior

Age Identity

A combination of self-perception of age along with what others understand that age to mean

Role of Historical Time Period

A person's awareness of social comparison, the historical period in which one grows up and lives influences perception and communication. For instance, people who lived through the Great Depression may perceive resources as being scarcer than others do

National Identity

A person's citizenship

Perception

A sense-making procedure where we attempt to understand our environment so we can respond to it appropriately

Theory

A set of statements that explains a particular phenomenon

Humanism

A system of thought that celebrates human nature and its potential

Outlook

A tendency to view and interpret the world in consistent ways; optimist & pessimist

Synergetic Model of Communication

A transactional model that, like most previous models, depicts communication as occurring when two or more people create meaning as they respond to each other and their environment

Human Communication

A transactional process in which people generate meaning through the exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages in specific contexts, influenced by individual and societal forces and embedded in culture

Perception Checking

A way of communicating that allows you test your assumptions about what another person has said or done

Effectiveness

Achieving one's goals successfully

Social Class Identity

An informal ranking of people in a culture based on their income, occupation, education, dwelling, child-rearing habits, and other factors

Demand - withdrawal

An interaction pattern in which one partner criticizes or tries to change the other partner; who responds by becoming defensive or disengaging either psychologically or physically

Religious Identity

Aspect of identity defined by one's spiritual beliefs

Context

Context includes the setting, or aspects of the physical environment, in which an interaction occurs. It also includes which and how many participants are present, as well as the specific occasion during which the interaction unfolds

Critical Approach - Method

Cultural studies

Methods

Describe the specific ways in which scholars collect and analyze data, the results of which are used to support or disprove their theoretical claims

Social Science - Goals

Describe, predict, and explain human behavior with the ultimate goal of discovering universal laws that apply across situations and contexts

Cognitive Representation

Describes the human ability to form mental models, or cognitive maps, of the world we live in

Ego - Defensive Function

Describes the role prejudice plays in protecting individuals' sense of self-worth

Attributional Bias

Describes the systematic errors people make when they evaluate or try to find reasons for their own and others' behaviors

Characteristics

Each person's unique mix of personality, temperament, and experience also influences how they interpret and respond to sensory information

Physical Difference

Each person's unique physical capabilities affect what they perceive and how they understand it

Role of Culture

Every culture has its own sensory model, which means that each culture emphasizes a few of the five senses. Moreover, what a culture emphasizes affects what its members pay attention to and prefer

Attribution Theory

Explains the cognitive and verbal processes we use to judge our own and others' behavior

Appropriateness

Following the rules, norms, nd expectations of a situation or relationship

Interpretive Approach - Goals

Goal of interpretive researchers is to understand and describe individual human communication behavior in specific situations, from the perspective of the communicator.

Gender Identity

How and to what extent one identifies with the social construction of masculinity and femininity

Ethnic Identity

Identification with a particular group with which one shares some or all of these characteristics: national or tribal affiliation, religious beliefs, language, and/or cultural and traditional origins and background

Ability Identity

Identification with physical and mental impairment that substantially impacts everyday life

Emotional State

If you are feeling happy or optimistic, you will tend to interpret and respond to sensory input differently than if you are feeling depressed, angry, or sad

Inferences

Inferences are conclusions that we draw or interpretations we make based on the facts

Interpretive Approach - Method

Interpretive researchers generally use qualitative methods for analysis

Social Comparisons

Judgments of one's own appearance, abilities, and behavior in relation to those of others

Qualitative Research

Methods in which researchers study naturally occurring communication rather than assembling data and converting it to numbers

Quantitative Research

Methods that convert data into numerical indicators, which are then analyzed using statistics to establish relationships among the concepts

Over attribution

Occurs when you select one or two obvious characteristics (such as an individual's sex, ethnicity, or age) and use them to explain almost anything that person does

Knowledge

Our knowledge of specific topics also influences our perceptions, communication, and decision making

Mindfulness

Refers to a clear focus on the activity one is engaged in, with attention to as many specifics of the event as possible

Cognitive Complexity

Refers to how detailed, involved, or numerous a person's constructs are

Role of Social Role

Refers to the specific position or positions that an individual holds in a society. Social roles include job positions, familial roles (such as mother or father), and positions in society

Ethnographic

Relating to studies where the researchers actively engage with participants

Roles of Prejudice

Researchers believe that prejudice is common and pervasive because it serves specific functions, the two most important of which are ego-defensive functions and value-expressive functions

Role of Social Comparison

Social categorization—or categorizing people—leads us to specific expectations about how others should or should not behave. These social categories and the expectations associated with them typically arise out of our culture and where we are positioned in the culture

Mutable

Subject to change

Self-serving Bias

Te tendency to give one's self more credit than credit is due when good things happen and to accept too little responsibility for things that go wrong

Communication Competence

The ability to adapt one's communication to achieve one's goals. Composed of 2 elements: appropriateness and effectiveness

Interpretation

The act of assigning meaning to sensory information

Frames

The assumptions and attitudes we use to filter perceptions to create meaning

Altruism

The belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others:

Relativism

The belief that moral behaviors vary among individuals, groups, cultures, and certain situations

Role Expectations

The expectation that one will perform in a particular way because of the social role occupied

Reflected Appraisals

The idea that people's self-images arise primarily from the ways that others view them and from the many messages they have received from others about who they are

Culture

The learned patterns of perceptions, values, and behaviors shared by a group of people

Prototype

The most representative example of a person or concept. For example, many people's prototypical idea of a professor is a person who is male, has white hair

What societal aspects influence communication?

The political, historical, economic, and social structures of a society influence this value hierarchy

Organization

The process by which one recognizes what sensory input represents

Selection

The process of choosing which sensory information to focus on

Identity Performance

The process or means by which we show the world who we think we are

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to attribute others' negative behavior to internal causes and their positive behaviors to external causes

Primacy Effect

The tendency to form a judgement or opinion based on the first information received

Role of Ethnocentrism

The tendency to view one's own group as the standard against which all others are judged

Self-concept

The understanding of one's unique characteristics as well ass the similarities to and differences from others

Multifaceted Approach

The use of all 3 (social science, interpretive, and critical) approaches to study communication

Critical Approach - Goal

Ultimate goal of changing society

Rhetorical Analysis

Used by researchers to examine texts or public speeches as they occur in society with the aim of interpreting textual meaning

Self-fulfilling Prophecies

When an individual expects something to occur' the expectation increases the likelihood that it will, as the expectation influences behavior

Role of Stereotypes

When you hold these types of beliefs and expectations, they tend to erase the stereotyped person's individual characteristics

Sexual Identity

Which of the various categories of sexuality one identifies with

Role of Power

Your relative position of power or lack of power influences how others perceive you, how you perceive others, and how you interpret events in the world

Script

a relatively fixed sequence of events expected to occur that functions as a guide or template for how to act in particular situations

Paradigm

belief system that represents a particular worldview

7 parts of human communication

message creation meaning creation setting participants channels noise feedback

Stereotype Threat

process in which reminding individuals of stereotypical expectations regarding important identities can impact their performance

Identity

who a person is, composed of individual and social categories a person identifies with, as well as the categories that others identify with that person