Chapter 1 - The Essentials of Human Communication

Three specific types or messages

Feedforward Feedback Metamessages

Four Aspects of Context

Physical Context Cultural Context Social-physhological Context Temporal Context

Source

Speaker

The Linear View of Human Communication

The speaker speaks and the listener listens

All communication contains noise

True

Subjective View

argue that absolute statements about right and wrong are too rigid and that the ethics of a message depends on the cultures values and beliefs a well s the particular circumstances. A good end would often justify the use of means that would in other situations be considered unethical.

Cultural Context

involves the lifestyles, beliefs, values, behavior, and communication of a group; it is the rules of a group of people for considering something right or wrong.

Interviewing

is a form of interpersonal communication that proceeds by question and answer. Through interviewing you learn about others and what they know, counsel or get counseling from others, and get or don't get the job you want. (Takes place through email, phone conferencing, or video conferencing with Skype)

Computer-mediated Communication

is a general term that includes all forms of communication between people that take place through some kind of computer whether it's on your smartphone or via a standard Internet connection as in social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc- emailing, blogging, instant messaging). Through this text, we'll make frequent reference to the similarities and differences between face-to-face and computer-mediated communication.

Noise

is anything that interferes with your receiving a message.

Models (representations) or theories

the communication process was through to be linear

Assimilationist Perspective

the idea that people should leave their native culture behind and adapt to their new culture

Ethics

the study of good, and bad, of right and wrong

Four types of noise

1) Physical Noise 2) Physiological Noise 3) Psychological Noise 4) Semantic Noise

Myths about Human Communication

1) The more you communication, the better your communication will be. 2) When two people are in a close relationship, neither person should have to communication needs and wants explicitly; the other person should know what these are. 3) Interpersonal or group conflict is a reliable sign that the relation or group is in trouble 4) Like good communication, leaders re born, not made. 5) Fear of speaking in public is detrimental and must be eliminated.

5 general purposes for communication

1) to learn: to acquire knowledge of others 2) to relate: to form relationships with others, to interact with others as individuals 3) to help: to assist others by listening, offering solutions 4) to influence: to strengthen or change the attitudes or behaviors of others 5) to plan: to enjoy the experience of the moment

Phatic Communication

type of feed ward messaging such as "small talk" that opens to way for "big talk". Including "how are you" and "nice weather" greetings that are designed to maintain rapport and friendly relationships.

Human Communication

Consists of the sending and receiving of verbal and nonverbal messages between two or more people.

Skills you'll learn through communication include..

Critical and creative thinking skills Interaction skills Relationship skills Leadership skills Presentation skills

Transactional Model

Each person involved in communication is both a source (speaker) and a receiver (listener): sense the term sources-receivers

Forms of Communication

Interpersonal Communication Intrapersonal Communication Interviewing Small-group communication Public Communication Computer-mediated communication Mass Communication

Receiver

Listener

Vocal Channel

Speaking and listening

Communication Competence

The ability to communicate effectively and knowing how communication works and how to best achieve your purpose by adjusting your messages accordingly to the content of the interaction, the person with them your interacting.

The Essentials of Human Communication

This a general model of communication between two people and most accurately depicts communication as a transactional process. It puts into visual form the various elements of the communication process.

Communication is ... Unrepeatable (Unrepeatability)

a communication act can never be duplicated for the simple reason everything and everyone is constantly changing. You can never recapture the exact situation, frame of mind, or relationship dynamics that defined a previous communication act. Example: first impressions, speeches, etc.

Objective View

argue that the rightness or wrongness of an act is absolute and exists apart from the values or beliefs of any individual or culture. The end can never justify the means; an unethical act is never justified regardless of how good or beneficial it's results might be.

The communication __________ is the vehicle or medium through which messages pass. Communication rarely takes place over only one _________. (vocal channel- speaking and listening, visual channel- gesture and receiving signals visually)

channel.

Ambiguity

condition in which something can be interpreted in more than one way. Examples: language ambiguity, relationship ambiguity

Culture

consists of the beliefs, ways of behaving, and artifacts of a group. Transmitted though communication and learning rather than through genes.

"how are you" means "hello" to someone you pass regally on the street but "is your health improving" to a friend in the hospital

context

Communication exists in a _______ that determines, to a large extend, the meaning of any verbal or nonverbal message.

context

Language Ambiguity

created by words that can be interpreted differently. Examples: soon, right away, in a minute, early, late, and similar terms can be understood differently by different people.

Cocultures

cultures coexisting somewhat separately but all influencing one another.

When you translate the sound waves (the speech signals) that impinge on your ears or read the words on a screen, into ideas, you take them out of the code they're in; sense you're

decoding.

Communication always has some _______ on those involved in the communication act

effect

Olfactory Channel

emit and small odors

Relationships Skills

enable you to build friendships, enter into love relationships, work with colleagues, and interact with family members. These are the interpersonal and relationship skills for initiating , maintaining, repairing, and sometimes dissolving relationships of all kinds. Everyday skills.

Leadership Skills

enable you to communicate information effectively in small groups or with large audiences and your ability to influence others in these same situations are among your most important leaderships skills. Essential in the workplace!

Presentation Skills

enable you to present yourself as a confident, likable, approachable, and credible person. Your effectiveness in just about any endeavor depends heavily on your self-presentation - your ability to present yourself in a positive light, through your verbal and nonverbal messages.

Speakers or writers are often referred to as ________ and listeners or readers as __________.

encoders, decoders

When you put your ideas into speech, you're putting them into a code; sense you're

encoding.

Ethnocentrism

extreme ethnic identity; it's the tendency to see others and their behaviors through your own cultural filters, often as distortions of your own behaviors.

Visual Channel

gesture and receive signals visually

Social-physhological Context

has to do with the stats relationship among speakers, the formality of the situation, the norms of ta group or organization; you don't talk the sam way in the cafeteria as you would at a formal dinner at your boss's house.

Relationship Ambiguity

having more than one possible interpretation or meaning.

Critical and Creative Thinking Skills

help you approach new situations mindfully- with full conscious awareness, increase your ability to distinguish between a sound and valid argument and on that is filled with logical fallacies, and your ability to use language to reflect reality more accurately.

Interaction Skills

help you improve your communication in a wide range of forms, from the seemingly simple small talk to the employment interview for the job of a lifetime. Interaction skills will enable you to communication with greater ease, comfort, and effectiveness whether you're proposing a life-long relationship or apologizing for some transgression.

Communication is ... Inevitable (Inevitability)

in interactional situations it is always taking pace, even when a person may not intend or want to communicate.

Signal-to-noise ratio

in this term signal refers to information that you'd fine useful, and noise refers to information that is useless (to you). Example: a post or feed that contains lots of useful information is high on signal and low on noise; one that contains lots of useless information is high on noise and low on signal

Metamessages

is a message that refers to another message; it is communication about communication. Example: remarks such as "this statement is false" or "do you understand what I am trying to tell you" refer to communication and are therefore "metacommunicational"

Temporal Context

is a message's position within a sequence of events; you don't talk the same way after someone tells you about the death of a close relative as you do after someone reveals they've won the lottery.

Mindfulness

is a state of awareness in which you're conscious of your reasons for thinking or behaving

Small-group Communication (Team Communication)

is communication among groups or five to ten people and may take place face-to-face or, increasingly, in virtual space. Through this you interact with others, solve problems, develop new ideas, and share knowledge and experiences.

Public Communication

is communication between a speaker and an audience. Through this a speaker will inform and persuade you. And you, in turn, inform and persuade others- to act, to buy, or to think in a particular way. Much as you can address large audiences face-to-face, you also can address such audiences electronically (social networks, newsgroups, or blogs such as posting you "speech" for anyone to read and then read their reactions to your message.

Gender

is considered a cultural variable largely because cultures teach boys and girls different attitudes, beliefs, values, and ways of communicating and relating to one another.

Physiological Noise

is created by barriers within the sender or receiver. Examples: visual impairments, hearing loss, articulation problems, and memory loss

Feedforward Messages

is information you provide before sending your primary messages. It reveals something about the messages to come and includes, for example, the preface or table of contents of a book, a Facebook profile, movie previews, magazine covers, email subject, caller ID, can be verbal "wait till you hear this one", or nonverbal (a prolonged pause or hands motioning for silence to signal that an important message is about to be spoken.

Physical Noise

is interference that is external to both speaker and listen; it interferes with the physical transmission of the signal or message. Examples: screeching of passing cars, hum of a computer, sunglasses, blurred type or fonts too small, misspelling, poor grammar, pop-up ads

Semantic Noise

is interference that occurs when the speaker and listener have different meaning systems; it would Examples: language or dialectical differences, the use of jargon or overly complex terms, and ambiguous or overly abstract terms whose meaning can be easily misinterpreted.

Intrapersonal Communication

is the communication you have with yourself- when you talk with, learn about, and judge yourself. You persuade yourself of this or that, reason about possible decisions to make, and rehearse messages that you plan to send to others.

Punctuation of communication

is the segmenting of the continuous steam or communication into small pieces. Some these pieces you label causes (stimuli) and others effects (responses)

Physical Context

is the tangible or concrete environment, the room, park, or auditorium, you don't talk the same way at a noisy football game as you do at a quiet funeral.

Content and relationship dimensions of communication

message referring to something external to both speaker and listener or to the relationship between speaker and listener

Nonverbal behavior may also be

metacommunicational. Examples: crossing fingers behind your back while lying, lack of smile while saying "I had a really great time"

Choice Points

moments when you have to make a choice as to whom yu communicate, what you say, what you don't say, how you phrase what you want to say, and so on.

Psychomotor Effects

new bodily movements, such as how to throw a curve ball, paint a picture, give a compliment or express surprise

Affective Effects

new feelings, attitudes, or beliefs or change existing ones

Interpersonal Communication

occurs when you interact with a person with whom you have some ind of relationship. Interact with others, learn about them and yourself, and reveal yourself to others. Example: New acquaintances, old friends, lovers, family members, or colleagues- it's through this communication you establish, maintain, sometime destroy, and sometimes repair personal relationships.

Tactile Channel

often touch one another

Communication is ... Irreversibile (Irreversibility)

once you say something or click "send" on your e-mail, you cannot communicate that message.

Interloper

one who tries to gain entrance to a group to which one really doesn't belong by using "code switching"

Grammatical Ambiguity

paraphrasing - reframing in your own words Example: the sentence "flying planes can be dangerous" can be interpreted "to fly planes is dangerous" or "planes that fly can be dangerous"

Cultural Diversity

people should retain their native cultural ways

Mass Communication

refers to communication from one source to many receivers who may be scattered through the world. Newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and film are the major mass media.

Physiological Noise

refers to mental interferene in the speaker or listener. Examples: preconceived ideas, wandering thoughts, biases, prejudices, close-mindedness, extreme emotionalism.

Code Switching

refers to using more than one language in a conversation, often in the same sentence. (using different language styles depending on the situation)

Messages

take many forms and are transmitted or received through one or more sensory organs or a combination of them

Content Messages

talking about more things external to the relationship

Relationship Messages

talking more about relationships in general and about the present relationship

Feedback Messages

when you send a message - say, in speaking to another person - you also hear yours. That is, you get feedback from your own messages; you hear what you say, you feel the way you move, you see what you write. You can also get feedback from others (frown, smile, yea, nay, poke back, retweet, pat on the back, punch in the face, etc.) Speaker may adjust, modify, strengthen, deemphasize or change the content or form of the messages based on feedback of other person.

Mindlessness

you lack conscious awareness of what or how you're thinking

Ethnic Identity

you self-identity as a member of the group, you embrace (largely) the attitudes and beliefs of the group and behave as a member of the group (perhaps celebrating ethnic holidays or preparing ethnic foods)