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
