COM 140: Intro
Principles of Nonverbal Communication:
*** Ambiguous: -Like verbal communication, nonverbal behavior is ambiguous. - ambiguity of nonverbal communication also arises because meanings change over time - Nonverbal communication is guided by rules just as verbal communication is. These rules reduce the ambiguity of nonverbal communication by telling us what certain behaviors are understood to count as (constitutive rules) and when and where certain behaviors are appropriate and inappropriate (regulative rules). • shared understanding cannot be guaranteed. • meanings of nonverbals change overtime. • nonverbal comm is guided by regulative and constitutive rules. *** Interactions with Verbal Communication: --- Nonverbal behavior Interacts with Verbal Communication: Communication researchers have identified five ways in which nonverbal behaviors interact with verbal communication: 1. Nonverbals repeat verbal messages (saying yes while shaking your head up and down) 2. Nonverbals highlight verbal comm. (using inflection to emphasize certain words: this is *very* important) 3. Nonverbals complement verbal communication (Speakers often emphasize verbal statements with forceful gestures and increases in volume; capital or boldfaced letters) 4. Nonverbals contradict verbal communication (someone says "Nothing's wrong" in a hostile tone of voice) 5. Nonverbals substitute verbal communication (roll your eyes to show that you disapprove of something or shrug your shoulders instead of saying, "I don't know.") • Regulates Interaction • Establishes relationship-level meanings ****NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION**** Nonverbal comm. establishes relationship-level meanings: - Responsiveness: We use eye contact, inflections, facial expressions, and body posture to show interest in others. - Liking: Nonverbal behaviors are keen indicators of whether we feel positive or negative about others. Smiles and friendly touching among Westerners usually are signs of positive feelings, whereas frowns and belligerent postures express antagonism - Power: We use nonverbal behaviors to assert dominance and to negotiate status. Compared with women, men generally assume more space and use greater volume and more forceful gestures to assert their ideas. Men are also more likely than women to move into others' spaces, touch others, and use eye contact to assert dominance. Space also expresses power. (Cubicle vs huge office) • Reflects Cultural Values: Like verbal communication, nonverbal patterns reflect rules of specific cultures. This implies that most nonverbal communication isn't instinctual but is learned in the process of socialization. (EX most Westerners think it is weird for same sex friends to hold hands but not in other cultures) (EX bumping into each other: US would apologize, Brazil it is normal, and they do not apologize)
The Breadth of the Communication Field
***IntrApersonal communication: - communication with ourselves, or self-talk - thinking (cognitive process that occurs inside us) - IntrApersonal communication is how we remind ourselves to make eye contact when giving a speech, show respect to others ("I should listen to Grandmother's story"), check impulses that might hurt others ("I'll wait until I'm calmer to say anything"), and impress prospective employers ("I need to research the company before my interview"). ***IntERpersonal communication: - Is not a single thing but rather a continuum that ranges from quite impersonal (interaction between you and a parking lot attendant) to highly interpersonal (interaction between you and your best friend). The more we interact with a person as a distinct individual, the more interpersonal the communication is. - Communication between people, sometimes in close relationships such as friendship and romance. ***Group and team communication: - Research in this area focuses on leadership, member roles, group dynamics, agendas for achieving group goals, and managing conflict. - Because groups involve more than one or two people, much teaching and research in this area focuses on how members coordinate their resources to arrive at collective decisions. ***Public communication: - any people will not pursue careers that call for extensive formal speaking, many of us will be in situations where speaking up is a responsibility. - Within the area of public communication are subareas such as argumentation and political communication. - Scholars of political communication are particularly interested in how politicians connect or fail to connect with voters, how political campaigns succeed or falter, how social movements build awareness of issues such as the environment, and how rhetorical skills influence the process of policy making. ***Organizational communication: - Understandings about identity and codes of thought and action that are shared by the members of an organization. - Some organizations think of themselves as families. From this understanding emerge rules for how employees should interact and how fully they should commit to work. - Another area of increasing interest is personal relationships between co-workers. In addition to romantic relationships, co-workers may form friendships, which can become complicated if one person has higher status than the other or if one person is required to maintain confidentiality, which may be perceived as not trusting a friend. ***Mass media: - Represent and influence cultural values. - Mass media sometimes reinforce cultural stereotypes about race and ethnicity. - Communication scholars heighten awareness of how media shape—and sometimes distort—our perceptions of ourselves and society. *** Personal and social media (computer mediated): - study how newer technologies and the accompanying acceleration of the pace of interaction influence how we think and work and how we form, sustain, and end relationships. - Some scholars caution that new technologies may undermine human community, whereas others celebrate the ways that mediated communication facilitates building community. - Communication scholars will continue to study whether emerging technologies merely alter how we communicate or actually change the kinds of relationships we build. ***Intercultural communication: - increases our insight into different cultures' communication styles and meanings. - One focus within intercultural communication research is different social communities within a single society. - Less obvious are differences in communication between people who speak the same language. - Within the United States there are distinct social communities based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and other factors. Members of social communities such as these often participate both in the overall culture of the United States and in the more specialized norms and practices of their communities. - Recognizing and respecting different communication cultures increases personal effectiveness in a pluralistic society. EXAMPLE: an international student in one of my graduate classes seldom spoke up and wouldn't enter the heated debates that are typical of graduate classes. One day after class, I encouraged Mei-Ling to argue for her ideas when others challenged them. She replied that doing so would be impolite. Her culture considers it disrespectful to contradict others, particularly elders and teachers. In the context of her culture. ******The areas of the field that we've just discussed are not as discrete as they may seem. Just as technologies of communication have converged in significant ways, so, too, do areas of the communication discipline converge and interact. (Can be doing more than one form of communication at once).
Defensive and Supportive Climates
***evaluation vs description: - we tend to feel defensive when others evaluate us, particularly when they evaluate us negatively. EX of evaluative statements: "It's dumb to feel that way" and "That's a stupid idea." - Descriptive communication doesn't evaluate what others think and feel. Instead, it describes behaviors without passing judgment. - Descriptive language may refer to others, but it does so by describing, not evaluating, their behavior. EX: "I notice you are speaking less in team meetings lately" versus "You're uninvolved in team meetings" - Nonverbal communication can also convey evaluation EX: a raised eyebrow expresses skepticism, shaking your head communicates disapproval. ***certainty vs provisionalism: - The language of certainty is absolute and often dogmatic. It suggests there is only one valid answer, point of view, or course of action. Because certainty proclaims an absolutely correct position, it slams the door on further discussion. - Certainty is also communicated when we repeat our positions instead of considering others' ideas - One form of certainty communication is ethnocentrism: the tendency to assume that one way of life is normal and superior to other ways of life. EX: "My mind can't be changed because I'm right," "Only a fool would think that" or "There's no point in further discussion." - An alternative to certainty is provisionalism: relies on tentative language to signal openness to other points of view. - Provisional language indicates that we are willing to consider alternative positions, and this encourages others to voice their ideas. - Provisional communication EX: "The way I tend to see the issue is ..." and "One way to look at the problem is ...." ***strategy vs spontaneity: - Strategic communication aims at manipulating a person or group for the benefit of the person manipulating. - Spontaneity stands in contrast to strategy. Spontaneous communication is open, honest, and not manipulative. - To be ethical, spontaneous communication must not be used against others. For instance, it may be spontaneous to be verbally abusive, but it is not ethical because it does not show respect for the other communicator. ***control vs problem orientation - Controlling communication attempts to coerce others. In response, others often feel defensive, and they may respond with resentment or even rebellion. - Controllers try to impose their points of view on others. Winning an argument or having the last word is more important than finding the best solution. - Controlling communication prompts defensiveness because the relationship-level meaning is that the person exerting control thinks she or he has greater power, rights, or intelligence than others. - problem-oriented communication focuses on resolving problems. The goal is to work collaboratively to come up with something that everyone finds acceptable. - Problem-oriented communication tends to reduce conflict and foster an open interaction climate. - The relationship level of meaning in problem-oriented interaction emphasizes that the communicators care about and respect each other. In contrast, controlling behaviors aim for one person to triumph over others, an outcome that undercuts harmony. ***neutrality vs empathy: - We tend to become defensive when others act in a neutral manner, especially if we are discussing something about which we feel strongly. - Neutral communication implies indifference to others and what they say. Consequently, others may feel hurt or defensive. - In contrast to neutrality, expressed empathy confirms the worth of others and shows concern for their thoughts and feelings. - Empathy doesn't necessarily mean agreement; instead, it conveys respect for others and what they think and feel. Especially when we don't agree with others, it's important to show that we respect them as people. Doing so fosters a supportive climate and keeps lines of communication open, even if differences continue to exist. ***superiority vs equality: - Most of us resent people who act as if they are better than we are. Consider several messages that convey superiority: "I know a lot more than you"; "You don't have my experience"; "You really should go to my hairdresser." Each of these messages says loudly and clearly, "You aren't as good (smart, experienced, attractive) as I am." - At the relationship level of meaning, expressed equality communicates respect. This promotes an open, unguarded climate for interaction. We can have special expertise in certain areas and still show regard for others and what they think, feel, and say. Creating a climate of equality encourages everyone to be involved without fear of being judged inadequate.
Models of Communication and their strengths and weaknesses:
*Linear Model: - one-way, process in which one person acts on another person. - Also called a transmission model because it assumes that communication is transmitted in a straightforward manner from a sender to a receiver. - This verbal model consists of five questions: Who? Says what? In what channel? To whom? With what effect? - Later added the concept of NOISE, which is anything that interferes with the intended meaning of communication and may distort understanding. --- Weakness: - Too simplistic to capture the complexity of human communication. - Suggests that a person is only a sender or a receiver and that receivers passively absorb senders' messages. This isn't how communication occurs. *Interactive Model: - They added FEEDBACK to this model (a response to a message) - The more communicators' FIELDS OF EXPERIENCE overlap, the better they understand each other. - Adding fields of experience to models clarifies why misunderstandings sometimes occur. --- Weakness: - Doesn't capture the dynamism of human communication. - Portrays communication as a sequential process in which one person communicates to another, who then sends feedback to the first person. Yet people often communicate simultaneously. - Designates one person as a sender and another person as a receiver. In reality, communicators both send and receive messages. - Doesn't portray communication as changing over time as a result of what happens between people *Transactional Model: - portrays communication as changing over time as a result of what happens between people. - includes noise that can distort communication. - includes interferences within communicators, such as biases and preoccupation that hinder effective listening. - represents communication as a continually changing process. (How people communicate varies over time and in response to their history of relating.) - emphasize that communication occurs within systems that affect what and how people communicate and what meanings they create. Those systems, or contexts, include the shared systems of the communicators (campus, town, culture) and the personal systems of each communicator (family, religious and civic associations, friends). - Also note that our model, unlike previous ones, portrays each person's field of experience and his or her shared fields of experience as changing over time. As we encounter new people and grow personally, we alter how we interact with others. - both people are defined as communicators who participate equally, and often simultaneously, in the communication process. This means that at a given moment in communication, you may be sending a message (speaking or wrinkling your brow), listening to a message, or doing both at the same time (interpreting what someone says while nodding to show you are interested). - Involved in a shared process (we-oriented) ****the most accurate model of communication represents it as a TRANSACTIONAL process in which people interact with and through symbols over time to create meaning. ****
Definition of communication and its key components:
- A systemic process in which people interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meanings Process: An ongoing continuity, the beginning and end of which are difficult to identify; for example, communication. - Ongoing and dynamic. - Hard to tell when communication starts and stops, what happens before we talk with someone may influence our interaction, and what occurs in a particular encounter may affect the future. That communication is a process means it is always in motion, moving forward and changing continually. System: A group of interrelated elements that affect one another. Communication is systemic. - Communication takes place within systems. - Consists of interrelated parts that affect one another. - In family communication, each family member is part of the system - Physical environment and time of day also are elements of the system. we may be more alert at certain times of day than at others. - Change in any part of system changes the entire system. -Organized wholes Openness: The extent to which a system affects and is affected by its surrounding environment. - example: closed systems of communities have little interaction with outside world. - The more open the system, the more factors influence it. Mass media and communication technologies expand the openness of most societies and thus the influences on them and their ways of life. Homeostasis: A state of equilibrium that systems strive for but cannot sustain. - Change, abrupt or casual is inevitable. - To function and survive, members of systems must adjust and change. - to interpret communication, we have to consider the systems in which it takes place Symbols: Arbitrary, ambiguous, and abstract representations of phenomena. Symbols are the basis of language, much nonverbal behavior, and human thought. - Communication is symbolic - symbolize love by giving a ring or saying "I love you" Meanings: The significance we attribute to a phenomenon; what it signifies to us. - we use symbols to assign meanings to experience - we ask others to be sounding boards so we can clarify our thinking, figure out what things mean, enlarge our perspectives, check our perceptions, and label feelings to give them reality Content level of meaning: - One of two levels of meaning; the literal information in a message. (Asking a direct question) Relationship level of meaning: - One of the two levels of meaning in communication; expresses the relationship between communicators. (If someone looks angry or happy, or expresses that there is care in from the content level of meaning) Example: Bf texts he won't be home at night, content level: keeping informed of schedule. Relationship level: staying connected with me as we usually see each other at night.
Studies Show
- The average person spends 45% to 55% of waking time listening to others - That's more time than we spend in any other communication activity
Examples: Research Questions Drive Methods
- What is the relationship between IP communication competence and relationship satisfaction? (Survey) - Do visual aids have an effect on memory recall? (Experiment) - How do new students influence the campus climate? (Interview) - How do homeless people at Kutztown create a sense of hope through community activities and communication practices? (Ethnography or Interview)
Other Curricular Emphases
- ethics - health communication - journalism, performance studies, - religious communication - speech and hearing
Develop skills for other listening goals
- listening for pleasure: don't need to concentrate on organizing and remembering as much as we do when we listen for information, although retention is important if you want to tell the joke to someone else later. Yet listening for pleasure does require mindfulness, hearing, and interpretation. - listening to discriminate: We listen to make fine discriminations in sounds in order to draw accurate conclusions and act appropriately in response. For example, doctors listen to discriminate when they use stethoscopes to assess heart function or chest congestion. Parents listen to discriminate a baby's cries for attention, food, reassurance, or a diaper change. Skilled mechanics can distinguish engine sounds far more keenly than most other people. Mindfulness and keen hearing abilities are skills that assist listening to discriminate.
Forms of Ineffective Listening:
1. Pseudo listening: Pretending to listen. 2. Monopolizing: Hogging the stage by continuously focusing communication on oneself instead of on the person who is talking. 3. Selective listening: Focusing only on selected parts of communication, e.g., screening out parts of a message that don't interest us or with which we disagree, or riveting our attention on parts of communication that interest us or with which we agree. 4. Defensive listening: The perception of a personal attack, criticism, or hostile undertone in communication when none is intended. 5. Ambushing: Listening carefully to a speaker in order to attack her or him. 6. Literal listening: Listening only to the content level of meaning and ignoring the relationship level of meaning. EX: saying "I'm fine" while showing displeasure on your face. and the person says okay instead of recognizing you aren't okay
According to Wood, the ability to feel with another person is called __________. A. empathy B. mind reading C. cognitive complexity D. inference
A. Empathy
The active process of selecting, organizing and interpreting people, objects, events, situations, and activities is known as __________ A. perception B. self-serving bias C. prototypes D. empathy
A. Perception
A technique developed by communication scholars to remind us that our evaluations apply only to specific times and circumstances refers to which of the following? A. indexing B. ambiguity C. selective perception D. static evaluation
A. indexing
Which of the following area of study deals with the topic of romantic relationships? A. interpersonal communication B. mass communication C. intrapersonal communication D. public communication
A. interpersonal communication
When Emily says to Stacey that she is having a difficult time in her chemistry class, Stacey's first response is to launch into an extended description of the difficulties she had in her physicals class. By doing so, Stacey is engaging in a faulty listening practice known as __________. A. monopolizing B. ambushing C. paraphrasing D. pseudolistening
A. monopolizing
The process nature of communication means __________. A. our interactions with others are ongoing and dynamic B. communication rarely, if ever, changes C. what happens in one encounter has little impact on other encounters we have D. a given interaction has a definite beginning and ending
A. our interactions with others are ongoing and dynamic
Which is the most abstract term in the following words? A. physical activity B. sport C. golf D. Tiger Woods
A. physical activity
Rachel doesn't want to be interrupted while she's speaking so she avoids looking at others until she has said all she wants to say. Then she looks at the person who wants to respond. Rachel has used nonverbal behavior to __________. A. regulate interaction B. define her cultural standpoint C. establish content level of meanings D. demonstrate warmth
A. regulate interaction
Which of the following is a quantitative research method? A. survey B. rhetorical criticism C. textual analysis D. Interview
A. survey
Which of the following is NOT true about gender differences in nonverbal communication? A. women tend to take larger space in seating than men B. women tend to use touch to show liking and intimacy C. men tend to use touch to assert power and control D. men tend to take larger space in seating than women
A. women tend to take larger space in seating than men
differences among deferential, aggressive, and assertive communication.
Aggressive: - occurs when one person puts themselves ahead of others or derides other thoughts, feelings, goals, or actions. EX: - I demand that we spend time together. - Get this report done today. I need it. Tell me what you're feeling; I insist. Assertive: - is not aggressive, is not deferential. simply expresses the speakers' thoughts, feelings, preference, and goals without disparaging anyone else. EX: - I'd like to create more time for us. - I'd like to get this report today. Can you manage that? - I would like to understand more how you feel. Deferential: - having respect or consideration. EX: - If you don't want us to spend time with each other, that's okay with me. - I need this report today, but if you can't get it done, that's all right. - If you don't want to talk about how you feel, okay.
Nonverbal communication is estimated to account for what percentage of the total meaning of communication? A. less than 12% B. 65-93% C. 16-39% D. 41-53%
B. 65-93%
Which one of the following types of communication promotes defensive climate? A. description B. control C. equality D. empathy
B. Control
All interruptions are attempts to monopolize communication. A. True B. False
B. False
Institutional facts are objective concrete phenomena and activities. A. True B. False
B. False
While it is a part of the communication process, listening is not as important as talking. A. True B. False
B. False
The literal meaning of a message is referred to as: A. inferential level of meaning B. the content level of meaning C. the connotative level of meaning Dthe relationship level of meaning
B. The content level of meaning
Cognitive schemata include all of the following EXCEPT __________. A. stereotypes B. abstractions C. prototypes D. personal constructs
B. abstractions
Which of the following research method requires researchers to immerse themselves in natural contexts? A. interview B. ethnography C. survey D. experiment
B. ethnography
Research has shown that babies in dysfunctional families are touched less often and less affectionately than babies in healthy families. This type of nonverbal behavior is referred to as __________. A. olfactics B. haptics C. proxemics D. kinesics
B. haptics
Susan is a teacher. When she is talking to students one on one, she gently encourages them to express themselves by saying, "Tell me more," "go on," "I understand." These are examples of __________. A. paraphrasing B. minimal encouragers C. listening D. prejudgment
B. minimal encouragers
Hwei-Jen believed that averting your eyes when interacting with someone was a sign of respect. When Hwei-Jen would not look directly at Mark when he spoke, he felt a bit insulted and thought that Hwei-Jen was not listening to him. This hindrance to effective communication involves __________. A. pseudolistening B. not recognizing diverse listening styles C. preoccupation D. lack of effort
B. not recognizing diverse listening styles
The study of our perception of odor and scents is known as __________. A. haptics B. olfactics C. artifacts D. proxemics
B. olfactics
Our perception of when a given interaction begins and ends is known as __________. A. totalizing B. punctuation C. reappropriation D. hypothetical thought
B. punctuation
Face Book, My Space, and Twitter have helped transform how we think and process information. This reflects a primary area of the modern communication discipline referred to as __________. A. mass communication B. social media C. group and team communication D. interpersonal communication
B. social media
The most simplistic model of communication is: A. the interactive model B. the linear model C. the transactional model D. none of the above
B. the linear model
Develop skills for relationship listening
Be mindful Suspend judgment: - When we judge, we add our evaluations to other people's experiences, and this moves us away from them and their feelings. Our judgments may also lead others to become defensive and unwilling to talk further with us. To curb judgment, we can ask whether we really need to evaluate right now Strive to understand the other's perspective: -use minimal encouragers: Communication that gently invites another person to elaborate by expressing interest in hearing more, like "go on" -paraphrasing: A method of clarifying another's meaning by reflecting one's interpretation of the other's communication back to that person. check perceptions -ask questions:" How do you feel about that?" or "What do you plan to do?" Express support: - relationship listening should focus on communicating support. This doesn't necessarily require us to agree with another's perspective or ideas. It does call upon us to communicate support for the person.
Develop skills for informational and critical listening:
Be mindful: - This may mean that you time your conversations, whether phone, online, or face to face, so that you have the mental energy to be mindful. Don't let your mind wander if information gets complicated or confusing. Avoid daydreaming, and stay focused on learning as much as you can Control obstacles: - You can also minimize distractions. You might shut a window to block out traffic noises or adjust a thermostat so that the room's temperature is comfortable. In addition, you should minimize psychological distractions by emptying your mind of the many concerns, ideas, and prejudgments that can interfere with attending to the communication at hand. Ask questions: - Asking speakers to clarify their messages or to elaborate allows you to understand information you didn't grasp at first and to deepen your insight into content you did comprehend. Use aids to recall: - For instance, we learned that we tend to notice and recall stimuli that are repeated. To use this principle to increase your retention, repeat important ideas to yourself immediately after hearing them. This moves new information from short-term to long-term memory. Repeating the names of people when you meet them can save you the embarrassment of having to ask them to repeat their names. Organize information: - organize what you hear. Because people seldom order what they hear, the information isn't coherently organized and so it's hard to retain or recall. We can impose order by regrouping what we hear.
The physiological component of listening is __________. A. interpreting B. organizing C. hearing D. responding
C. hearing
Shawn is having trouble listening effectively in his advanced philosophy course. Usually he listens well in class, but the professor in this case presents such complicated ideas that Shawn has difficulty following and retaining the lecture. Shawn is experiencing a listening obstacle known as __________. A. message overload B. preoccupation C. message complexity D. prejudgment
C. message complexity
When you are tired, stressed, or sick, you are likely to perceive things more negatively than when you are well rested. This is an example of __________. A. social influences B. expectations C. physiological influences D. self-serving bias
C. physiological influences
Susan is analyzing twitter messages on coronavirus; her research method is a good example of: A. survey B. experiment C. textual analysis D. interview
C. textual analysis
Rhetorical criticism is __________. A. the study of persuasive nonverbal communication B. the study of the history of the field of communication C. the process of examining a text to see how it works communicatively D. quantitative research
C. the process of examining a text to see how it works communicatively
Origin and history of communication
Classical Roots: - Rhetoric and Democratic Life: art of rhetoric was born in the mid-400s B.C. in the Grecian port city of Syracuse on the island of Sicily. - the communication field came into existence to answer a pressing need of citizens in a democracy. Aristotle understood that citizens could participate fully in democracy only if they were able to speak well and engage in discussion and debate about issues of the day. Building on the teachings of Corax and Tisias, other ancient teachers, notably Plato and Aristotle, taught their students how to analyze audiences, discover ideas and evidence to support claims, and organize and deliver speeches clearly and dynamically. - Aristotle proposed: ----5 canons of rhetoric—invention., organization, style, memory, and delivery. ~ Three methods of persuasion: -- ethos: One of the three forms of proof; proof based on the speaker's credibility (trustworthiness, expertise, and goodwill). -- pathos: One of the three forms of proof; proof based on appealing to listeners' emotions. -- logos: One of three forms of proof; proof based on logic and reasoning. ***Liberal Education: -Rhetoric was taught as a practical part for participation in civic life. -In the 1800s and early 1900s, rhetoric was taught as a practical art that prepared people for responsible participation in civic life. The emphasis on teaching that marked this period explains why the first national professional organization, founded in 1914, was named the National Association of Teachers of Public Speaking. ***John Dewey: progressive thinking in cultural life. - He realized that to have any impact on cultural life, progressive thinking must be communicated. In other words, people must be able to voice their ideas and to listen thoughtfully and critically to the ideas of others; they must talk, listen, debate, and discuss. - Comm. goes beyond public speaking to social issues and propaganda -After the two world wars, communication professionals felt an urgent need to understand the development of prejudice against social groups, willingness to follow authoritarian leaders such as Hitler, the effects of propaganda, and changes in attitudes and beliefs. ***Comm. associations were established, - The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) was founded in 1912. promotes both academic and applied journalism, and it sponsors research journals and conferences on journalistic practice, scholarship, and teaching. Today, AEJMC has more than 3,500 members worldwide. - Speech Teachers of America (STA) was founded in 1914.The organization has changed its name three times, each change signaling evolution in the organization's scope and view of itself. The CURRENT name is the National Communication Association (NCA), and it has thousands of members in 20 countries. - The International Communication Association (ICA) was founded in 1950. scientific, quantitative research, which gained prominence in almost all of the social sciences. Signaled a growing interest in scientific research in the communication field. Today, both NCA and ICA have international memberships, and both promote research of all types. Scientific and empirical research - ICA (social scientific approach) - Personal and social relationships - Communication, power, and empowerment - Responds to the changing needs of individuals and society. - Many colleges and universities began to offer classes in family communication, nonverbal communication, and interaction in intimate relationships - Many scholars and teachers of communication embraced a critical focus on social movements and began to investigate the communicative dynamics that social movements employ and the ways in which social movements affect individuals and society.
Components in the Conflict Process:
Conflicts of interest: - Goals, interests, or opinions that seem incompatible - We find ourselves at odds with people who matter to us. - We need to resolve conflict without harming the relationship. Conflict orientations: - Individuals' attitudes toward conflict - Three main orientations: lose-lose: assumes that conflict results in losses for everyone. win-lose: assumes that one person wins at the expense of the other. win-win: assumes that there are ways to resolve differences so that everyone gains.
Communication is valuable in personal life because________. A. helps form and alter our self-concept. B. Communication enhances physical and mental well-being. C. Communication promotes understanding of the world in general. D. All of the above
D. All of the above
Which of the following influences our perception process? A. culture B. education C. interests D. all of the above
D. All of the above
Suzy is really upset, and she feels like throwing a temper tantrum, even though she's 20 years old. Disregarding the social inappropriateness of her behavior, Suzy beats a door and then kicks it while in a public area. In this instance, Suzy's behavior was motivated by which aspect of herself? A. me B. moral self C. cognitive self D. I
D. I
You had a disagreement with your parents, but you decided to obey your parents. Which conflict response did you use? A. neglect B. voice C. exit D. Loyalty
D. Loyalty
The statement that "all African-American students are good athletes" is an example of: A. script B. prototype C. fact D. stereotype
D. Stereotype
What careers can you take with a communication degree? A. advertising and public relations B. marketing C. human resources D. all of the above
D. all of the above
Which of the following can be used to express power? A. occupying larger space B. silence C. patting on someone's back D. all of the above
D. all of the above
The verbal symbols we select to use are not intrinsically connected to what they represent. This is known as __________. A. abstraction B. ambiguity C. brute meaning D. arbitrariness
D. arbitrariness
Which of the following is a personal construct? A. the person who is the best example of a co-worker to you B. the dictionary definition of a co-worker C. your idea about how you should act in specific situations with a co-worker D. how a co-worker measures up on the dimension of intelligent-unintelligent
D. how a co-worker measures up on the dimension of intelligent-unintelligent
According to Aristotle, which of the following means logic and reasoning? A. tenthos B. ethos C. pathos D. logos
D. logos
The features of a system include__________. A. independence and isolation B. fixed and static C. closeness and equilibrium D. openness and homeostasis
D. openness and homeostasis
The process nature of communication means: A. a given interaction has a definite beginning and ending B. what happens in one encounter has little impact on other encounters we have C. communication rarely, if ever, changes D. our interactions with others are ongoing and dynamic
D. our interactions with others are ongoing and dynamic
Caitlin is angry with her boyfriend, so she refuses to sit near him in the car or to let him get really close to her while they are walking. To communicate her anger, Caitlin is relying on __________. A. artifacts B. paralanguage C. chronemics D. proxemics
D. proxemics
According to surveys of companies, the most important quality they look for in a job applicant is: A. willingness to relocate B. computer skills C. a degree from an accredited university D. the ability to communicate effectively
D. the ability to communicate effectively
Negating most of a person by spotlighting a single aspect of his/her identity is known as __________. A. punctuation B. abstraction C. reappropriation D. totalizing
D. totalizing
destructive and constructive communication patterns of conflict.
Destructive communication: • Disconfirm other person • Cross-complaining • Kitchen sinking: throw all events all at once. - The exit response involves leaving conflict, either by physically exiting or by psychologically withdrawing. "I am not going to talk about it" is an exit response. Because exit is forceful, it is active; because it fails to resolve tension, it can be destructive. - The neglect response occurs when a person denies or minimizes problems. Neglect can be destructive because it evades difficulties, and it is passive because it doesn't actively promote discussion. Constructive: • Recognize and acknowledge • Bracketing: marks off peripheral issues for later discussion. - The loyalty response is staying committed to a relationship despite differences. Loyalty involves hoping that things will get better on their own. Loyalty is silent allegiance, so it is passive. Because loyalty doesn't end a relationship and preserves the option of addressing tension later, loyalty can be constructive. - The voice is potentially the most active, constructive response to conflict because it focuses on dealing directly with problems and helps the relationship by managing differences
Conflict & Communication
Exists when people who depend on each other have different: - views - interests - values - responsibilities - objectives They perceive their differences as incompatible
The Listening Process
Hearing: - A physiological activity that occurs when sound waves hit our eardrums. Unlike listening, hearing is a passive process. Listening involves: - Several steps process - is more complex than hearing - The process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages. The process consists of being mindful, hearing, selecting and organizing information, interpreting communication, responding, and remembering. the steps of the listening process are: 1. mindfulness 2. physically receiving communication 3. selecting and organizing communication 4. interpreting communication 5. Responding 6. Remembering
I and You Language
I-language: - Language that identifies the speaker's or perceiver's thoughts and feelings. (Compare with you-language.) you-language: - Language that attributes intentions and motives to another person, usually the person to whom one is speaking. (Compare with I-language.)
Two aspects of self
I: - The creative, spontaneous, impulsive aspect of the self. The I is complemented by the me. - acts impulsively in response to inner needs and desires, regardless of social norms. - is the part of you that wants to send a really nasty e-mail message to a chat room visitor whom you find offensive. me: - The reflective, analytical, socially conscious aspect of self. Me complements the I aspect of self. - the socially conscious part of self that monitors and moderates the I's impulses. **The I is impervious to social conventions, but the me is keenly aware of them. If your supervisor criticizes your work, your I may want to tell that boss off, but your me censors that impulse and reminds you that subordinates have to defer to their bosses.
Content level of meaning vs Relationship level of meaning:
Meanings: The significance we attribute to a phenomenon; what it signifies to us. - we use symbols to assign meanings to experience - we ask others to be sounding boards so we can clarify our thinking, figure out what things mean, enlarge our perspectives, check our perceptions, and label feelings to give them reality Content level of meaning: - One of two levels of meaning; the literal information in a message. (Asking a direct question) Relationship level of meaning: - One of the two levels of meaning in communication; expresses the relationship between communicators. (If someone looks angry or happy, or expresses that there is care in from the content level of meaning) Example: Bf texts he won't be home at night, content level: keeping informed of schedule. Relationship level: staying connected with me as we usually see each other at night.
Third-Party Assistance in Resolving Conflict
Mediator: Outside third party who facilitates discussion between two or more parties who are in conflict but who does not have the power to make a decision. Arbitrator: Outside third party who has the authority to make a decision on a conflict between two or more people.
Example of Survey Questions: Customer satisfaction survey
On a scale of 1~5, please rate the following questions: - How likely is it that you would recommend this product to a friend or colleague? - How well does this product meet your needs? - How would you rate the quality of this product? - How likely are you to purchase this product again? - Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with this product?
Perception:
Perception: • An active process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting people, objects, events, situations, and activities. • Perception shapes our understanding of others' communication and the choices we make in our own communication. • Perception and communication influence each other. • Communication also influences our perceptions of people and situations. The language and nonverbal behaviors that other people use affect our perceptions of their intelligence, honesty, attractiveness, and so forth.
the three beneficial outcomes of studying communication in different aspects of life:
Personal: - Personal Life: • Formation & alteration of self-concept through comm. • Enhance physical and mental well-being • Understanding of the world in general • effective communication is the heart of personal relationships - Personal Relationships: • Relationships are "constituted in talk" • Poor communication can be destructive (strong links between verbal behaviors and reciprocal violence between spouses. Other communication scholars have documented a range of social and interpersonal influences on violence between intimates) Professional Life: • Essential in all professions, particularly, in teaching, law, sales, and counseling, where talking and listening are central to effectiveness. • Comm skill is listed as one of the top qualities in job candidates • Health-care professionals rely on communication skills to talk with patients about medical problems, courses of treatment and to gain cooperation from colleagues, patients, and families for continued care. • The pivotal role of communication in healthcare makes it unsurprising that an increasing number of medical school's base admissions, in part, on applicants' communication skills, especially their ability to work in teams (Harris, 2011). • 75% of the engineers said that communication skills had consequences for their career advancement Civic Life: • Citizens talk and listen critically to engage in a democratic society. • Citizens in a democracy must be able to express ideas and evaluate the ethical and logical strength of communication by public figures. • To make informed judgments, voters need to listen critically to candidates' arguments and responses to questions. • Need to listen critically to proposals about goals for our communities, the institutions at which we work, and the organizations on which we depend for services. • Working in groups to identify needs of communities and society and to find a way to meet those needs • Without sustained, vigorous communication among citizens, democracy fails • Diversity: Communication reflects and determines culture • nearly half of first-year students at colleges and universities think that learning about other cultures is essential or very important Examples: - College students who are in committed relationships have fewer mental health problems and are less likely to be obese. - Heart disease is more common among people who lack strong interpersonal relationships - Cancer patients who are married live longer than single cancer patient
Research methodologies that communication scholars use to conduct research. There are four.
Quantitative Research: - Gather information in numerical form. - Techniques such as descriptive statistics, surveys, and experiments, used to gather quantifiable data. ***Descriptive statistics: - measures human behavior in terms of quantity, frequency, or amount. ***Surveys: measure how people feel, think, act, and so forth. instruments, questionnaires, or interviews that measure how people feel, think, act, and so forth. Surveys are valuable when a researcher wants to discover general trends among a particular group of people—members of an institution. - often are used in organizations to gain information about employee morale, response to company policies, and job satisfaction. Once survey data are gathered, they may be analyzed using a variety of statistical methods ***Experiment - measure how one variable that can be manipulated affects other variables. - researchers measure how one variable (called the independent variable) that can be manipulated affects other variables (called dependent variables). Qualitative Research: - Provides nonnumerical knowledge about communication. - especially valuable when researchers want to study aspects of communication that cannot easily be quantified, such as the meaning of experience, the function of rituals in organizational life, and how we feel about online communication. Three methods of qualitative research are most prominent in the communication discipline. - Interpretive techniques, including textual analysis and ethnography, used to understand the character of experience, particularly how people perceive and make sense of communication. *** Textual analysis: - The interpretation of symbolic activities—for example, how couples manage conflict or how attorneys interrogate witnesses. Texts are not limited to formal written texts or speeches, but also include AIDS quilt, community-building rituals among refugees, tours of toxic waste sites, self-disclosures in chat rooms on the Web, and stories told in families. In each case, communication practices are interpreted, rather than measured, to understand their significance. ***Ethnography: - researchers immerse themselves in naturally occurring activities and natural contexts that have not been manipulated by researchers. - By spending significant time in these contexts, ethnographic researchers are able to gain insight into the perspectives of those who are native to the context. - a commitment to understanding what communication means from the perspective of those involved rather than from that of an outside, uninvolved observer. ***historical research: - Examines past events, people, and activities. - Scholars rely on historical research to learn about the contexts in which ancient thinkers such as Aristotle developed their ideas. The data for historical scholarship include original documents, such as drafts of famous speeches and notes for revision, records that describe events and public reaction to them, and biographical studies of key figures. ***Critical Research: - Studies power relationships in society and their impact - An approach to research that aims to identify, critique, or change communication practices that oppress, marginalize, or otherwise harm people. - reflecting, upholding, and sometimes challenging cultural ideology. - Some critical scholars contribute through original theorizing that helps us understand how certain groups and practices become dominant and how dominant ideologies sometimes are challenged and changed in a society. - Other critical scholars engage in empirical work to reveal how particular practices function and whom they benefit and harm. --- Triangulation: - Studying phenomena in multiple ways by relying on multiple sources of data, theories, researchers, and/or methodological approaches. - scholars often rely on more than one research method in an effort to gain multifaceted understanding of what is being studied. Likewise, scholars often combine different kinds of data or theoretical perspectives to gain a fuller understanding of what is being studied than they would get from any single type of data or theoretical lens. - Researcher triangulation occurs when two or more researchers gather and analyze data so that the data are interpreted through multiple perspectives. Methodological triangulation involves using two or more methodologies to study a phenomenon. To study the relationship between stereotypical media messages about race and ethnicity, and consumers' social judgments of races and ethnicities, Dana Mastro (2003) employed both quantitative and critical methods. ***Rhetorical Criticism: - the process of examining a text to see how it works communicatively. - aims to understand how particular texts work. How do they have impact—or fail to have impact—on listeners and viewers? Why do they have the impact they do, or not have the impact their creator intended?
Remembering:
Remembering: The process of recalling what one has heard; the sixth element of listening. We forget a lot of what we hear: - After eight hours, we recall only about 35% of our interpretations of the message. - We selectively focus our attention to what is important
Guidelines for Creating & Sustaining Healthy Communication Climates
Respect diversity among people: - it's counterproductive to try to force all people and relationships to fit into a single mode - To build and sustain supportive, confirming climates, we need to adapt our communication to people's differences. - Because people and relationships are diverse, we should respect a range of communication choices and relationship patterns. In addition, we should be cautious about imposing our meaning on others' communication. Time conflict effectively: - A fourth guideline for creating effective communication climates is to time them so that each person can be mindful and so that the context and available time allow for constructive discussion. - bracketing: Identifying and setting aside for later discussion the issues peripheral to a current conflict. - be flexible when you engage in conflict. Show grace when appropriate: - grace: Granting forgiveness, putting aside our own needs, or helping another save face when no standard says we should or must do so.
Responding:
Responding: Symbolizing interest in what is being said with observable feedback to speakers during interaction; the fifth of six elements of listening. Includes: - expressing interest - asking questions - voicing our own ideas on a topic - Communicating attentiveness We respond not only when others finish speaking but also throughout interaction. At public presentations, audience members show interest by looking at speakers, nodding their heads, and adopting attentive postures. Nonverbal behaviors, such as looking out a window and slouching, signal that you aren't involved. We also show lack of involvement or interest by yawning, looking bored, or staring blankly. Good listeners show that they're engaged. The only way that others know we are listening is through our feedback. Indicators of engagement include attentive posture, head nods, eye contact, and vocal responses such as "Mmhmm" and "Go on." When we demonstrate involvement, we communicate interest in the other person's ideas, and they are likely to offer more details and information
Conflict responses and outcomes
Responses to conflict: - Overt behavioral responses to conflict - these responses to conflict, which are active or passive, depending on whether they address problems. Responses are also constructive or destructive in their effect on relationships. 1. The exit response involves leaving conflict, either by physically exiting or by psychologically withdrawing. 2. The neglect response occurs when a person denies or minimizes problems. 3. The loyalty response is staying committed to a relationship despite differences. Loyalty involves hoping that things will get better on their own. Loyalty is silent allegiance, so it is passive. 4. The voice is potentially the most active, constructive response to conflict because it focuses on dealing directly with problems and helps the relationship by managing differences. Conflict outcomes: - How conflict is resolved and how the process of conflict affects relationships between people. - Relationship outcomes are influenced more by how we manage conflict than by the resolution itself. - Conflicts can strengthen relationships when people build and sustain a supportive communication climate.
Obstacles to Effective Listening
Situational obstacles: there are four: 1. incomprehensibility: When a message is not clearly understandable due to language or transmission problems; one of four situational obstacles to listening. EX: lack of a microphone when one is needed for audibility, fading in and out on cell calls, mumbling by a speaker, and syntax or grammar that makes it difficult to grasp what a communicator means to say. 2. message overload: The receiving of more messages than we can interpret, evaluate, and remember; can interfere with effective listening. EX: Students who take four or five classes each term deal with four or five sets of readings, class lectures, and online materials—a load that can overwhelm even the most conscientious student. EX: if a speaker is presenting information orally while showing a slide with complex statistical data. 3. message complexity: The amount of detailed information or intricate reasoning in a message; can interfere with effective listening. EX: hen a message is highly complex, is packed with detailed or technical information, or involves intricate reasoning. The more detailed and complicated the ideas, the more they tax short-term memory. 4. environmental distractions: In communication situations, any occurrence that interferes with effective listening. EX: television in the background, side comments during a conference, or muffled traffic sounds from outside. Increasingly, we are interrupted by the buzzes of pagers and the ringtones of smartphones. Internal obstacles: 1. preoccupation: Absorption in our own thoughts or concerns. 2. prejudgments: Judging others or their ideas before one has heard them. Sometimes we think we already know what someone will say, so we don't listen carefully. In other cases, we decide in advance that others have nothing to offer us, so we tune them out. 3. lack of effort: Sometimes we aren't willing to invest the effort to listen well. In other instances, we want to listen, but we're tired, ill, hungry, or unable to focus for other reasons. 4. Reacting to emotionally loaded language: words that evoke very strong positive or negative responses. You may find some words and phrases very soothing or pleasant. Certain other words and phrases may summon up strongly negative feelings and images. When we react to words that are emotionally loaded for us, we may fail to grasp another person's meaning. 5. not recognizing diverse listening styles: For example, in general, women are more active than men in giving verbal and nonverbal feedback, using head nods, facial expressions, and responsive questions to show interest. Some African Americans call out responses to a speaker or preacher as a way to show interest in what the speaker is saying. A speaker who doesn't understand this pattern is likely to misinterpret the responses as interruptions. Conversely, some African Americans may perceive European-American listeners as uninterested because they don't participate by calling out during a speech or sermon. Nancy's reflections on her perceptions as a white person at a black church illustrate the importance of recognizing and respecting diverse listening styles.
Interpreting Communication
The fourth step of listening process is interpretation****** interpretation: - The subjective process of organizing and making sense of perceptions. We put together all that we have selected and organized to make sense of communication Effective interpretation depends on your ability to understand others on their terms. you won't always agree with other people's feelings and thoughts. Recognizing others' viewpoints doesn't mean you agree with them, but it does mean you make an earnest effort to grasp what they think and feel. This is an ethical responsibility of listening.
Selecting and Organizing Communication
The third step of listening is selecting and organizing material. **** What we attend to depends on: - Physiological influences: If we are preoccupied, we may not notice, select, and organize material effectively. - expectations: If you want to communicate effectively, you should take responsibility for controlling thoughts and concerns that can interfere with listening. Choosing to be mindful doesn't guarantee that our minds won't stray, but it does mean that we will bring ourselves back to the moment. - cognitive structures (the 4 cognitive schemata): we use cognitive schemata to organize our perceptions. As you listen to other people, you decide how to categorize them by deciding which of your prototypes they most closely resemble: friend, professional rival, colleague, supervisor, and so forth. You then apply personal constructs to assess whether they are smart or not smart, honest or not honest, reasonable or not reasonable, open to advice or not open, and so on. Next, you apply stereotypes to predict what they will do. Finally, you choose a script that seems appropriate to follow. - social roles - Membership in cultures and social communities we construct others and their communication by the schemata we use to organize our perceptions of them. Because our perceptions can be wrong, we should be ready to revise them in the course of interacting.
Types of Nonverbal Behaviors
There are 10 Types of Nonverbal Behaviors: 1. Kinesics (face and body motion): - Refers to body position and body motions, including those of the face. Body postures and gestures may signal whether we are open to interaction. The face is particularly powerful in conveying liking and responsiveness. - EX: slouching vs standing up straight: slouching looks not excited or not prepared) 2. Haptics (touch): - Nonverbal communication involving physical touch. Compared to men, women are more likely to engage in touch to show liking and intimacy. Men are more likely than women to use touch to assert power and control 3. Physical appearance: - Western culture places an extremely high value on it (skin color, size, eye color, height). May have no factual basis but can affect personal and social relationships, decisions about hiring, placement, and promotion. Cultures prescribe ideals and these vary across cultures. - EX: Western cultural ideals emphasize thinness in women and muscularity and height in men 4. Olfactics (smell): - A term for our perception of odors and scents. Smell is a form of communication. Scents we choose to wear can be personal signatures. Pheromones- may affect sexual attraction. - EX: the smell of baked cookies usually makes you happy) and can bring up a nostalgic feeling (the smell of an old girlfriend's perfume) 5. Artifacts (personal objects): - Personal objects we use to announce our identities, and to personalize our environments. Clothing is one of the most common forms. Expresses our cultural and ethnic identities. Can announce one's profession. - EX White-collar professionals tend to wear tailored outfits and dress shoes, whereas blue-collar workers often dress in jeans or uniforms and boots. 6. Proxemics (personal space): - Refers to space and how we use it. Influenced by status, culture, interaction needs, interdependency, power relationships, etc. - EX: "space of minorities and poor people is often invaded and contaminated, but the territory of more affluent citizens is respected" -EX: families who enjoy interaction arrange furniture to invite conversation and eye contact 7. Environmental factors: - Elements of settings that affect how we feel, think, and act. We choose colors, furniture arrangements, and other things to create the atmosphere we desire. - EX: We feel more relaxed in rooms with comfortable chairs than in rooms with stiff, formal furniture - EX: restaurants want to get people in and out as quickly as possible. Music with a fast tempo speeds up the pace of eating in restaurants; on average, people eat 3.2 mouthfuls a minute when the background music is slow and 5.1 mouthfuls a minute when music with a faster tempo is played 8. Chronemics (perception and use of time): - Refers to how we perceive and use time to define identities and interaction. Western societies value time and speed; other cultures might have more relaxed attitudes toward time and punctuality. The length of time reflects the extent of our interest for someone and affection for that person. - EX: Subordinates are expected to report punctually to meetings, but bosses are allowed to be tardy. - EX: The length of time we spend with different people reflects the extent of our interest in them and affection for them. A manager is inclined to spend more time with a new employee who seems to have executive potential than with one who seems less impressive. 9. Paralanguage (vocal qualities): -Communication that is vocal but not actual words. Includes sounds: murmurs & gasps, vocal qualities, Volume, Rhythm, Pitch, and Inflection. - We use vocal cues to communicate feelings to friends and romantic partners. Whispering, for instance, signals confidentiality or intimacy, whereas shouting conveys anger or excitement. - Negative vocal tones often reveal dissatisfaction or dislike in social interaction. 10. Silence: - A lack of communicated sound. Can communicate powerful messages. Can convey contentment. Can also communicate awkwardness. EX: Some parents discipline children by ignoring them. EX: Awkward silence on a first date
Unifying themes in the communication field
Three enduring concerns 1. symbolic activities, 2. meaning, and 3. ethics—unify the diverse areas of communication. ***Symbolic Activities: - the basis of language, thinking, and nonverbal communication. - Symbols are arbitrary, ambiguous, and abstract representations of other phenomena. - Symbols allow us to reflect on our experiences and ourselves. - Symbols also allow us to share experiences with others, even if they have not had those experiences themselves. (Example: symbol of marriage is a wedding ring). ***Meaning: - Closely related to interest in symbols is the communication field's concern with meaning. - imbue every aspect of our lives with significance or meaning. - humans imbue eating and other activities with meaning beyond their functional qualities. Our experiences gain significance as a result of the values and meanings we attach to them. - we are symbol users, we actively interpret events, situations, experiences, and relationships. - We use symbols to name, evaluate, reflect on, and share experiences, ideas, and feelings. - when we give names to things, we change how we think about them. Through the process of communicating with others, we define our relationships. Do we have a friendship, or something else? How serious are we? Do we feel the same way about each other? Is this conflict irresolvable, or can we work it out and stay together? -To study communication, then, is to study how we use symbols to create meaning in our lives. As we interact with others, we build the meaning of friendship, team spirit, family, national identity, and organizational culture. ***Ethics: - The branch of philosophy that deals with the goodness or rightness of particular actions. Ethical issues infuse all areas of the communication field. - Communication inevitably involves ethical matters because people affect each other when they interact. - it's important to think seriously about what moral guidelines we should follow in our communication and in our judgments of others' communication. - One ethical principle that is applicable to a broad range of situations is allowing others to make informed and willing choices. Adopting this principle discourages us from deceiving others by distorting evidence, withholding information, or coercing consent. - A second important principle of ethical communication is respect for differences between people. Embracing this guideline deters us from imposing our ways and our values on others whose experiences and views of appropriate communication may differ from our own. - A third ethical principle is to take responsibility for our own communication and our responses to others' communication. You make choices when you communicate verbally and nonverbally. ****Symbols are the basis of digital communication just as they are of oral interaction.
Conflict Styles
Two dimensions: • Concern for other: cooperative (high) vs. Uncooperative (low) • Concern for self: assertive (high) vs. passive(low) 1. Avoidance: -- Conflict style that shows low concern for self or others. -- Rarely effective 2. Accommodation: -- Conflict style that shows low concern for self and high concern for others -- Volunteer to work on Saturday because you know Wilma wants the day off 3. Competition: -- Conflict style that shows high concern for self and low concern for others. -- Pit your will against Wilma's, insisting that she must work because you cannot 4. Compromise: -- Conflict style that shows moderate concerns for both self and others. -- Each of you working for four hours on Saturday 5. Collaboration: -- Conflict style that shows high concern for self and others. -- confronting to directly addressing the problem, seeking joint gains, calming troubled waters -- Sit down with Wilma and collaborate to reach a solution that could benefit both of you. -- you might find that you both have Thursday and Friday evenings free, and by working together, you can write the proposal without relinquishing weekend plans
attribution and the four dimensions of attributions in the interpretation process
attribution: - An explanation of why things happen or why people act as they do. Not necessarily correct interpretations of others and their motives. • The act of explaining why: - Something happens - A person acts a particular way Attributions have 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 a stressful period at work"). 3. specificity, the explanation of actions as the result of global factors ("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").
four types of cognitive schemata in the organization process.
cognitive schemata: - Mental structures people use to organize and interpret experience. Four schemata have been identified: prototypes, personal constructs, stereotypes, and scripts. ****Cognitive Schemata: 4 Prototypes: - A knowledge structure that defines the clearest or most representative example of some category. personal construct: - A bipolar mental yardstick that allows us to measure people and situations along bipolar dimensions of judgment, such as "honest—dishonest." stereotype: - A predictive generalization about a person or situation. script: - scripts define expected or appropriate sequences of action in particular settings.
the three levels of confirmation and disconfirmation: recognition, acknowledgement, and endorsement.
communication climate: - The overall feeling, or emotional mood, between people. confirmation: - The expressed valuing of another person. 1. Recognition: - The most basic level of interpersonal confirmation; the communication of awareness that another person exists and is present. - The expression of awareness of another person's existence verbally or nonverbally. EX: a smile or "hello" - If we don't recognize their existence, that's disconfirmation, e.g., failing to give even basic eye contact. 2. Acknowledgment: - The second of three levels of interpersonal confirmation; communicating that you hear and understand another's expressed feelings and thoughts. - Attentiveness to what a person feels, thinks, or says. For example, nodding heads while listening or responsive to others 'communication - We disconfirm others when we don't acknowledge their feelings, thoughts, or words. For example, ignore what others said or deny the feelings they communicate. 3. Endorsement: - The third of three levels of interpersonal confirmation; the communication of acceptance of another's thoughts and feelings. Not the same as agreement. - The highest level of interpersonal confirmation - Accepting a person's feelings or thoughts as valid. It doesn't mean agreeing with someone - We fail to endorse others when we reject their thoughts and feelings
conflict, overt conflict, and covert conflict.
conflict: The expression by people who depend on each other of different views, interests, or goals and the perception of differences as incompatible or in opposition. overt conflict: Conflict expressed directly and in a straightforward manner. covert conflict: Conflict that is expressed indirectly; generally, more difficult to manage constructively than overt conflict.
listening involves physically receiving communication
listening involves physically receiving communication, second step of the listening process**** We might receive it by noticing - sounds -nonverbal behaviors - reading lips - Sign Language When we speak with someone who has a hearing impairment, we should face the person and verify that we are coming across clearly. Our ability to receive messages also declines if we are tired or stressed Physical reception of messages is also hampered if others are talking around us, if TVs or radios are on, and if there are competing visual cues. Women and men seem to differ somewhat in how they listen. As a rule, women are more attuned than men to all that is going on around them. Men tend to focus, shape, and direct their hearing in specific ways, whereas women are more likely to notice contexts, details, and digressions, as well as major themes in interaction
mindfulness
mindfulness: - Being fully present in the moment; the FIRST step of listening and the foundation of all the other steps. First, attending mindfully to others increases our understanding of their thoughts and feelings. Second, mindfulness promotes more complete communication by others. When we really listen to others, they tend to elaborate their ideas and express their feelings in greater depth.
self-serving bias
self-serving bias: - The tendency to attribute our positive actions and successes to stable, global, internal influences that we control and to attribute negative actions and failures to unstable, specific, external influences beyond our control. - We tend to construct attributions that serve our personal interests • We tend to attribute our positive actions and our successes to internal and stable factors. • We tend to attribute negative actions and failures to external and unstable events that are beyond personal control. • How we perceive ourselves determines how we react to situations HOW SELF-SERVING BIAS INFLUENCES THE ACCURACY OF OUR PERCEPTION: • Physiological factors: -- If you are tired, stressed, or sick, you're likely to perceive things more negatively than when you are well and rested. • Expectations: -- positive visualization: A technique used to enhance success in a variety of situations by teaching people to visualize themselves being effective and successful. -- expectancy violation theory: A theory claiming that when our expectations are violated, we become more cognitively alert as we struggle to understand and cope with unexpected behaviors. • Mass Media • Cultures and Social Communities -- culture: the beliefs, values, understandings, practices, and ways of interpreting experience that are shared by a group of people. -- Social community: A group of people who live within a dominant culture yet also belong to another social group or groups that share values, understandings, and practices distinct from those of the dominant culture. • Social Roles Cognitive Abilities: - Cognitive complexity: The number of mental constructs an individual uses, how abstract they are, and how elaborately they interact to create perceptions. **Person Centeredness: - the ability to perceive another as a unique individual and adapt our comm. to particular individuals. ** Empathy: - the ability to feel with another person.
Features of Language
• Arbitrariness arbitrary: Random or not necessary. Symbols are arbitrary because there is no need for any particular symbol to stand for a particular referent. -- Verbal symbols are not intrinsically connected to what they represent e.g., • In different languages, objects have different names to represent them. • Language changes over time • We create new words or imbue existing words with new meanings •We borrow words from other cultures •People in different regions name the same object differently Examples: Obamamania, gender gap, and political correctness. Cyberspace, hyperlink, tweet, and selfie • Ambiguity ambiguous: Subject to multiple meanings. Symbols are ambiguous because their meanings vary from person to person, context to context, and so forth. • Language doesn't have clear-cut, precise meanings. • The meanings of words vary according to cultural contexts and individuals' experiences. • However, many words have agreed-upon range of meanings within a culture or social community. • The ambiguity of language can lead to misunderstandings. • Abstraction abstract: Removed from concrete reality. Symbols are abstract because they refer to, but are not equivalent to, reality. • Words are not the phenomena to which they refer. • In using language, we engage in a process of abstraction in which we move further and further away from external or objective phenomena. • Ladder of abstraction
Guidelines for Improving Skill in Perceiving
• Avoid mind reading -- The assumption that we understand what another person thinks or how another person perceives something. • Check perceptions with others • Distinguish facts from inferences & judgments: -- inference: An interpretation that goes beyond the facts known but is believed to logically follow from them. -- judgment: A belief or opinion based on observations, feelings, assumptions, or other nonfactual phenomena. • Monitor the self-serving bias -- monitoring: The observation and regulation of one's own communication.
Careers for people with great communication skills:
• Education/Teaching • Nonprofit Sector • Mass and Digital Comm: Journalism, Broadcasting, Public Relations, and Advertising • Training and Consulting • Human Relations and Management • Marketing • Law • Research
verbal communication
• Engage in person-centered communication -- In public presentations, speakers adapt their language to the knowledge and attitudes of listeners. If listeners already favor what a speaker advocates, the speaker can use more impassioned language than if listeners are opposed to what he or she advocates. Person-centered communicators adapt to listeners. • Be aware of levels of abstraction - Vague abstractions promote misunderstanding when people don't share concrete referents for the abstract terms they use. learn to qualify language by using indexing instead of static evaluation.*** • Qualify language - static evaluation: an assessment that suggests something or somebody is unchanging or static. e.g., Ann is selfish - Indexing: a technique of noting that every statement reflects a specific time and circumstance. e.g., Ann acted selfishly today. • Own your feelings and thoughts
principles of verbal communication
• Interpretation creates meaning brute facts: Objective, concrete phenomena. institutional facts: Meanings people assign to brute facts (objective, concrete phenomena) that are based on human interpretation. • Communication is guided by rules - Regulative rules: Communication rules that regulate interaction by specifying when, how, where, and with whom to talk about certain things. - communication rules: Shared understandings of what communication means and what behaviors are appropriate in various situations. - Constitutive rules: Communication rules that specify how certain communicative acts are to be counted. • Punctuation affects meaning -Punctuation: Defining the beginning and ending of interaction or interaction episodes. Punctuation is subjective and not always agreed on by those involved in the interaction. The demander thinks, "I demand because you withdraw," and the withdrawer thinks, "I withdraw because you demand."
nonverbal communication
• It includes all aspects of communication other than words, includes inflection and other vocal qualities as well as several other behaviors such as shrugs, blushing, and eye movements. • Includes: - gestures - body language - how we utter words (inflection, volume) - features of environments - objects - Nonverbal communication accounts for 65% to 93% of the total meaning of communication.
Language & Meaning
• Language consists of symbols, which are representations of - People - Events - All that goes around us and in us • All language is symbolic, yet not all symbols are linguistic - e.g., Nonverbal communication **symbols: Arbitrary, ambiguous, and abstract representations of phenomena. Symbols are the basis of language, much nonverbal behavior, and human thought. **nonverbal communication: All forms of communication other than words themselves; includes inflection and other vocal qualities as well as several other behaviors such as shrugs, blushing, and eye movements. **verbal communication: Words and only words; does not include inflection, accent, volume, pitch, or other paralinguistic features of speech.
Functions of Language
• Language defines phenomena - The labels we use to define others affect how we perceive them. EX: test car is "a car" once purchased, it's "your car". Car didn't change, the meaning you attach to it and symbolize with the possessive label. - Totalizing: Responding to a person as if one aspect of that person were the total of who the person is. EX: When we totalize someone, we negate most of that person by spotlighting a single aspect of his or her identity. "They are gay" "they are old' • Language evaluates phenomena: Language is not neutral, but laden with values. - Loaded language: An extreme form of evaluative language that relies on words that strongly slant perceptions and thus meanings. - Reappropriation: A group's reclamation of a term used by others to degrade the group's members; the treatment of those terms as positive self-descriptions. Aims to remove the stigma from terms that others use pejoratively. • Language organizes experiences • Language allows hypothetical thought: - experiences and ideas that are not part of your concrete, daily reality Hypothetical thought: Thinking about experiences and ideas that do not exist or are not immediately present to the senses. ****VERBAL COMMUNICATION**** • Language allows self-reflection. • Language defines relationships and interaction. There are three dimensions of relationship level meaning: - Responsiveness: we show attentiveness to others' communication. When we give thoughtful feedback to a colleague, we show responsiveness. When we ask an interviewee to elaborate ideas, we demonstrate interest in him or her. When we like or comment on a friend's post, we show interest. Different social and cultural groups learn distinct rules for showing responsiveness. - Liking: Masculine socialization emphasizes emotional control and independence, so men are less likely than women to verbalize their feelings of affection for most other people. Feminine socialization encourages many women to verbalize feelings of warmth... EX: I like working as a team, I hate green beans" - Power: We use verbal communication to define dominance and to negotiate status and influence. Men typically exceed women in efforts to establish control over others. Research has shown that men are more likely than women to exert control verbally by controlling conversations, having the last word, interrupting, and correcting others.
Guidelines for Effective Nonverbal Communication
• Monitor your nonverbal communication -- Are you projecting the image you desire? Do others interpret your facial and body movements in ways consistent with the image you want to project? Do friends ever tell you that you seem uninterested when really you are interested? • Interpret others' nonverbal communication tentatively: - Personal qualifications: Because nonverbal behaviors are ambiguous and vary between people, we need to be cautious about how we interpret these behaviors. A key principle is that we construct the meanings we attach to nonverbal communication. A good way to keep this in mind is to rely on I-language, not you-language. - Contextual qualifications: Like the meaning of verbal communication, the significance of nonverbal behaviors depends on the contexts in which they occur We also dress according to context—a suit for job interview, jeans or casual slacks and a shirt for a game.
The perception process:
• Perception consists of three interrelated processes: selection, organization, and interpretation These processes blend into one another. We organize perceptions even as we select what to perceive, and we interpret in an ongoing manner. Each process affects the other two. What we notice about people and situations influences how we interpret them. Also, our interpretation of a person or situation directs us to selectively notice certain, and not other, aspects of the person or setting. Selection: Factors that influence what we notice: - What you consider as important - External phenomena (Things that stand out) - Education - Change - Self-concepts - Needs, interests, and motives Organization: Constructivism: - A theory that holds that we organize and interpret experience by applying cognitive structures called schemata. Schemata: - Cognitive structures we use to organize and interpret experiences. The four types of schemata are prototypes, personal constructs, stereotypes, and scripts. Interpretation: - The subjective process of creating explanations for what we observe and experience. - We use attributions in the interpretation process. attribution: - An explanation of why things happen or why people act as they do. Not necessarily correct interpretations of others and their motives. • The act of explaining why: - Something happens- A person acts a particular way
