Comm 101

Bracketing

a way to use timing to promote positive conflict is bracketing which marks off peripheral issues for later discussion . Bracketing other concerns for later discussion lets only if people actually do return to the issues they set aside.

Overt Conflict

exists when people express differences in a straightforward manner (face-to face)

Convert Conflict

exists when people express disagreement or difference only indirectly. (Being passive aggressive )

Relationship level of meaning

expresses the relationship between communicators. EX: if a persona asks "may I come in" in an angry voice and is your supervisor then the relationship-level meaning as a signal is that your supervisor is not satisfied. It often expresses a desire to connect with another person. Relationship level of meaning (depicted by the person) is more important than content level. (obvious)

Quantitative research methods

gather information in numerical form p.28 ex: 7.9 percent of people watch TV in china.

Nonverbal Communication

includes all aspects of communication other than words

Transactional Model

receiver and sender can play the same roles simultaneously, as sometimes happens, as messages can be sent back and forth simultaneously.

Linear Model

It is straight-line communication found typically in mass communication; think television, radio, newspapers, etc. There is no means for immediate feedback. Sender is sending a message to the receiver

Qualitative research methods

provide non-numerical knowledge about communication p. 29

Self-Serving Bias

We tend to construct attributions that serve our personal interests ex: I failed this test because the professor sucked at teaching. but in reality you didn't study enough

Expectancy violation theory

When our expectations are violated. ex: when the person you are dating says is going to call, but then doesn't or he dates your best friends. Research shows that when our expectations are violated, we become more cognitively alert as we struggle to understand and cope with unexpected behaviors or event. 1) our interpretation are affected by whether the violation is positive or negative 2) our interpretation are influenced by the extent to which the behavior deviates from expected behavior. 3) our interpretation are affected by the impact of the violation on a relationship.

Interactive Model

A message is sent and received, then the roles reverse.

how to improve your perceptions skills

Avoid mind reading: which in this sense means assuming we understand what another person thinks or feels. Check perceptions with others: We could ask "Why didn't you respond?" rather than assuming a friend is angry, it might be valuable to ask, "Are you angry with me?". It's important to check perceptions Distinguish facts from inferences and judgments- Interferences: is a deduction that goes beyond what you know or assume to be a fact. Judgments: is a belief or opinion that is based on observations, feelings, assumptions or other phenomena that are not facts. Monitor the Self-Serving Bias- Monitoring: is the process of calling behaviors or other phenomena to our attention so that we can observe and regulate them.

Relationship Listening

Be mindful Suspend Judgment: avoid judgment Strive to understand the other's perspective: grasping the other person's perspective. By using minimal encouragers, that gently invites the other person to elaborate Paraphrasing: we reflect our interpretation of other's communication back to them Express support: communicating support

informational and Critical listening

Be mindful: is to make a decision to attend carefully, even if the material is complex and difficult Control Obstacles: You can also minimize distractions. You might shut a window to block out traffic noises. Ask Questions: Asking speaker to clarify their messages or to elaborate Use Aids to Recall: To use this principle to increase you retention, repeat important ideas to yourself immediately after hearing them. Organize Information: Another technique to increasing your retention is to organize what you hear.

Interpersonal Communication

Communication between two people

Three key principles of communication

Communication rules: are shared understandings among members of a particular culture or social group about what communication means and what behaviors are appropriate in various situations. Regulative rules: regulate interaction by specifying when, how where, and with whom to communicate about certain things Constructive rules: define what a particular communication means or stands for

Gibb's categories for supportive statement/ communcation

Description: doesn't evaluate what others think and feel. Instead, it describes behaviors without passing judgments Provisionalism: which relies on tentative language to signal openness to other points of view. Spontaneity: is open honest, and not manipulative. Orientation: Resolving tensions and problems Empathy: showing you understand that person by showing respect for others and what they think and feel Equality: treat others like equals by recognizing, acknowledging, and endorsing others, is the basis of healthy communication climates.

Conflict orientation

Do you assume that everyone is bound to lose in conflict situations? your answer to these questions shape your orientation toward conflict and thus how you approach it Lose- lose approach: to conflict assumes that conflict results in loses for everyone Win-lose Orientation: assumes that one person wins at the expense of the other Win- win orientation: assumes that there are usually ways to resolve differences so that everyone gains.

Gibb's categories for deffensive statement/ communication

Evaluation: "you have no discipline," "It's dumb to feel that way," and "That's stupid Idea" Certainty: Certain language. not open to other point of views Strategy: manipulating a person or a group for the benefit of the person manipulating. Control: Attempts to persuade others. Imposing a preference. Neutrality: acting in a neutral manner instead of showing empathy Superiority: "i know a lot more about this than you" making someone feel less smart, competent, or attractive.

Conflict responses

Exit response: involves leaving a relationship, either by walking out or by psychologically withdrawing. " I do not want to talk about it" Neglect response: when a person denies or minimizes problems "you're making a mountain out of a molehill" Loyalty response: is staying committed to a relationship despite differences. Loyalty is hoping that things will get better Voice response: dealing directly with problems and helps the relationship by managing differences

Rely on I-language, not You-language

I statements are more descriptive than you-statements. You-statements tend to be accusations that are abstract and unspecific. I-statements provide concrete descriptions of behaviors without holding the other person responsible for how we feel.

external obstacles that make listening difficult

Incomprehensibility: when a message is not clearly understandable because of language or transmission problems message overload: occurs when we receive more messages than we can effectively process Message complexity: which exists when a message we are trying to understand is highly complex, is packed with detailed information, or involves intricate reasoning Environmental distractions: these occur in the communication setting that interfere with effective listening

Three levels of confirmation

Interpersonal confirmation: is the expressed valuing of another person Recognition: the expression of awareness of another person's existence Acknowledgment: attentiveness to what a person feels, thinks, or says Endorsement: accepting a person's feelings or thoughts as valid

Ethnocentrism

Is a perspective based on the assumption that our culture and it norms are the only right ones

The nine different types of nonverbal communication

Kinesics (face and body motion) Haptics (touch) Physical appearance (sex, skin color, and size) Olfactics (smell) Artifacts (personal objects) Proxemics (personal space) Environmental factors (the elements of setting that affect how we feel, think, and act) Chronemics (perception and use of time) Paralanguage (vocal qualities) Silence

Six symbolic abilities that affect our lives

Language defines phenomena: we use words to define ourselves, others, experiences, relationships, feelings, and thoughts. TOTALING- is responding to a person as if one label totally represents that person. most disabled people don't like to be called disabled because that totalizes them. Language evaluates Phenomena: We describe people we like with language that accents their good qualities and downplays their flaws ("My friend is self-confident"). The reverse is true of our language for people we don't like (" My enemy is arrogant"). LOADED LANGUAGE: is words that slant perceptions, and thus meanings, exceedingly. Loaded language encourages extreme perceptions. REAPPROPRIATION: This happens when a group reclaims a term used by others to degrade its members, and treats that term as a positive self-description. Like queers use it to identify themselves in a positive way Language organizes experiences: Words organize our perceptions of events and experiences. We categorize people by the way we perceive them. Language allows hypothetical thought: Its a hypothetical question in which you go into a hypothetical thought: which is thinking about experiences and ideas that are not part of your concrete, daily reality. Language allows self refelction: Helps us explain ourselves. we have to aspects the I and ME. Language Defines relationships and interaction: our verbal communication conveys messages about how we perceive ourselves and others. RESPONSIVENESS: through question and statements of agreement or disagreement we sow our interest in others communication. LIKING: We express liking verbally when we say "I really enjoy being with you" POWER: we use verbal communication to define dominance and to negotiate status and influence

abstraction ladder

MOST CONCRETE--> Concrete phenomena: Andrea moves around a lot; she says she is worried about making a good grade in the course, and she asks many questions.--> Perceived behavior: Andrea asks a lot of questions--> Label Applied: Andrea is taking more than her share of time--> Judgment: Andrea is a selfish and immature person--> Action: Avoid interacting with Andrea.--> MOST ABSTRACT

Steps in the listening process

Mindfulness: is focusing on what is happening in the moment not what you did last night. Selecting and organizing: We selectively attend to some aspects of communication and disregard others. Interpreting communication: When we interpret, we put together all that we have selected and organized to make sense of communication. Responding: which includes expressing interest, asking questions, voicing our own ideas on a topic, and otherwise communicating attentiveness. Physically receiving message: Remembering: the final aspect of the listening process.

Principles of non verbal communication

Nonverbal communication is ambiguous Nonverbal behaviors interact with verbal communication: nonverbal communication may complement or add to words. Nonverbal communication regulate Interaction: nonverbal cues, more than verbal ones, tell us when to speak and keep silent by averting our eyes or by increasing our speaking volume and rate, we signal that we don't want to be interrupted. Nonverbal communication establishes relationship-level meaning: we use nonverbal communication to convey the three dimensions of relationship-level meaning: responsiveness, liking, and power. yet how people communicate responsiveness, liking and disliking, and power depends on the rules of their cultures.

four basic traits of human communication

Personal life Personal Relationships Professional Life Civic Life

Internal Obstacles that makes listening difficult

Preoccupation: when we are absorbed in our thoughts an concerns, we can't focus on what someone else is saying Prejudgment: the tendency to judge others or their ideas before we've heard them Lack of effort Reacting to Emotionally Loaded language: words that evoke very strong positive or negative responses Not Recognizing Diverse listening Styles- not recognizing and adjusting to different listening styles that reflect diverse cultures and social communities

6 forms of ineffective listening

Pseudolistening: is pretending to listen Monopolizing: is hogging the stage by continually focusing communication on ourselves instead of the person who is talking Selective listening: which involves focusing only on particular parts of communication. Focusing only on conversation that interests us Defensive listening: involves perceiving a personal attack, criticism, or hostile undertone in communication when none is intended Ambushing: is listening carefully for the purpose of gathering ammunition to use in attacking a speaker Literal listening: involves listening only to the content level of meaning and ignoring the relationship level of meaning.

Public Communication

Public Speaking

Mass Media

body of research we have learned a great deal about how mass media represent and influence cultural values.

History of communication disapline

comm. field came into existence to answer a pressing need of the people of Syracuse. Rome and Greece knowledge of rhetoric was Aristotle's thinking about how persuasion occurs: Ethos- proof based on speaker credibility Pathos- proof that appeals to listeners' emotions Logos- is based on logic and reasoning.

Small- group communication

communication in decision-making committees and work teams

Content level of meaning

contains the literal message. EX: "May I come in" literally means if they can come in

Intercultural Communication

cultural comm

Intarpersonal Communication

is communication with ourselves, or self-talk

Grace

is granting forgiveness, putting aside our needs, or helping another save face when no standard says we should or must do so. Rather than being prompted by rules or expectations, grace springs from a generosity of spirt.

Perception Process

is the active process of: SELECTION: selecting what is more important to us or stands out to us the most. ORGANIZING: organize our perceptions in meaningful ways. Contructivism is a theory that state that we organize and interpret experience by applying cognitive structures called cognitive schemata. We rely on SCHEMATA to make sense of phenomena: prototypes: knowledge structures that define the clearest or ideal examples of some category. (group a race, teacher, or friend) personal concepts: Mental yardstick that allows us to measure a person or situation along a bipolar dimension of judgment. Either they're kind or not kind. stereotypes: predictive generalization about a person or situation Scripts: a sequence of activities that spells out how we and others are expected to act in a specific situation. INTERPRETING PEOPLE: subjective process of creating explanations for what we observe and experience.

Organizational Communication

is the general term for the understanding about an organization's identity and codes of thought and action that members of an organization share

Cognitive Complexity

is the number of personal constructs used (remember, personal constructs are bipolar dimensions of judgments) People who are less cognitively complex tend to ignore information that doesn't fit their impressions or to throw out old ideas and replace them with new impressions.

Language Abstractions

language is abstract, which means that words are not the concrete or tangible phenomena to which they refer. (can refer to many things depending on the person) they stand for those phenomena-- ideas, people, events, objects, feelings and so forth, but they are not the things they represent

Punctuate a verbal message

of a verbal communication is a way to mark a flow of activity into meaningful units . Punctuation is our perception of when interacting begins and ends.

Mediated Communication

technological communication

Attributions (accredit to)

which is the act of explaining why something happens or why a person acts a particular way. We attribute our own and others behaviors to causes. Four dimensions: 1) internal-external locus: the attribution of a person's behavior to internal factors ("he's short tempered") or external factors ("The traffic jam frustrated him") 2) stability: the explanation of actions as the result of stable, enduring factors that won't change over time ("She's a nervous person"; "This job is always stressful") or variable (unstable) temporary factors ("She's nervous right now because of a big deal she's closing"; "This is stressful period at work") 3) Specificity: The explanation of actions as the result of global factor ("she's intelligent") or specific factors ("She's gifted at math"). 4) Control: is the ascribing of responsibility for actions either to people themselves (she doesn't try to control her temper) or to factors beyond their personal control (She has a chemical imbalance)

Language is Ambiguous

which means it doesn't have clear-cut, precise meanings. (very broad, can mean many things)

Language is Arbitrary

which means that verbal symbols are not intrinsically connected to what they represent. because meanings are arbitrary instead of necessary, language changes as we invent new words or imbue existing words with new meanings.