Liberty University COMS 101 Ch. 1-5

postmodernism

"deconstructionists," are especially interested in the ways people use language to impact each other's ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. the material world, if it is really there, exceeds our grasp. the only reality people can know, they say, is the one their minds construct in response to the world as language filters it to them. goals: exposition and emancipation

overstatement

"hyperbole," is the use of exaggerated terms for emphasis but not for literal meaning. example: I am so hungry I could eat a horse

metaphors

(A is B or substitutes B for A) (A=B) a common figurative form that identifies one thing in a way that symbolically stands for another thing. example: A mighty fortress is our God -Martin Luther

Communis

Our word "communication" derives from this Latin term meaning common, general, universal, or public. in other words "common unity"

idiom

a combination of words that means something different than the words' literal meaning example: business has hit the rocks lately (reached a low point)

uniform truth claims

claims of truth (in the Bible) that consist with each other

intercultural communication

considers situations in which individuals from significantly different people groups, each of these with a distinguishable identity, interact with each other.

Physical barriers to communication

examples: cognitive impairment, Physical challenges, Sensory impairment, Speech impairment

organizational communication

highlights situations in which people interact as members of large networks, like businesses

God-consciousness

highlights the fact that, whatever else it may be, nature is a text through which God proclaims His existence and His divine qualities to all thinking people. see Psalm 19:1-4

Vocalics

how people express themselves through voice; A person's use of volume, tone, pitch, accent, speaking pace, and silence which could profoundly impact a recipient's interpretation of his or her message and motives

Purpose-consciousness

humans are aware that we have a purpose or a void that we have to fill with God, but sadly many fill it with other worldly things. the thought that human behavior is driven fundamentally by a thirst to satisfy this God-given longing for significance.

verbal messages

messages that involve the use of words or the combination of words that are spoken, written, or printed, are either literal or figurative

Redemptive communicator

one functions as this when his or her verbal and/or nonverbal behavior manifests God's love to others in a way that promotes what God values in the world.

Recipient

one person or group of persons who receive information

Sender

one person or group of persons who transmit meaningful information

a thocentric worldview

recognizes that God, the timeless, changeless source and sustainer of the universe and the source of all knowledge, discloses otherwise indiscernible foundational truths through Scripture, and that these otherwise hidden disclosures rightly frame and give direction to human quests to make sense of anything, including communication.

Ethical-consciousness

the fact that humans can still know what is right and wrong because God has written His law on our hearts, although it can be corrupted by sin

religious expression

the human attempt to connect with God, or with something apparently ultimately fulfilling like Him, especially but not exclusively through such overtly "religious" message forms as meditation, prayer, chanting, singing, reciting, dancing, fasting, almsgiving, body decoration, self-punishment, sacrifices, and so forth.

mediated communication

this communicational mode concerns situations in which senders use technologies to channel messages to recipients, whether synchronously or asynchronously. can be broadly classified as written, printed, electronic, or digital. When you use a pen, a printing press, a keyboard, or a radio tower to channel meaningful information to someone

group communication

this communicational situation occurs when three or more people come together for a common purpose, whether formally, as in a work group, or informally, as in social situations.

utilitarian truth standards

truth known by holding that a belief, feeling, or behavior is acceptable if it "works," but has to promot the greatest good not for the individual, but for humanity as a whole.

pragmatic truth standards

truth known by holding that a belief, feeling, or behavior is acceptable if it simply "works" for the person who holds it, regardless of whether it logically consists with anyone else's experiences and standards.

Claude Shannon, Warren Weaver, and Wilbur Schramm

twentieth-century theorists whose concepts formed the definition and criteria of communication

denotative meaning

word or phrase's literal meaning; the meaning of the word or phrase according a dictionary or other recognized authoritative sources

similes

(A is like or as B) (A:B) explicitly compares two otherwise dissimilar things, usually via the modifiers "like" or "as" example: My love is like a red, red rose. -Robert Burns

existentialsim

believe that although the material world may exist in a fixed form, with all its particles and processes, it is nonetheless removed from us, and we cannot have direct contact with it. individuals are radically free to take control of their minds, to break away from stifling social influences, and to free themselves to see the world in authentic, uninhibited, self-directed ways communication is negative in their minds

Kinesics

body language affects communication by sending it's own message by just gestures, facial expressions, or eye contact

universal truth claims

claims of truth (in the Bible) that are true for all people at all times, even for people who deny or ignore them

fixed truth claims

claims of truth (in the Bible) that do not change

haptics

communication can be impacted as well by touch, or by the lack thereof, among people.

family communication

considers the unique interactions that take place among people who are related by marriage, birth, or adoption

Transmission

to transfer information from one person or place to another

rationalistic/empirical truth standards

truth known by holding that a belief, feeling, or behavior is unacceptable if it is illogical or if it is at odds with what common human observations tell us is true. (in other words has to be true in contrast to what humans can see and observe)

Judee Burgoon

Scholar who has created perhaps the most recognized "typology," or classification system

mass communication

When people use a media technology to distribute information to a large group of physically detached people, they engage in mass communication. examples: billboards, mass mailings, newspapers, magazines, website postings, e-mails, podcasts, and radio, or TV broadcasts

artifacts

a nonverbal communicative factor that people can send a lot of information about themselves to others via the material objects through which they express their identities

words

a sound or a combination of sounds, or its representation in writing or printing, that symbolizes and communicates a meaning

public comunication

a speaker formally addresses a group of typically 10 or more individuals in a face-to-face environment where interactivity is possible but generally not practiced. The face-to-face quality distinguishes this mode from mediated communication. The potential for interactivity distinguishes it from mass communication

paradox

a statement that appears to be self-refuting but that is, in fact, true or possibly true. example: you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else -Margaret Mead

redemptive criticism

a term for the attempt to make sense of human communicative behavior and specific human communications in the light of divine revelation

redemptive criticism

a term for the attempt to make sense of human communicative behavior and specific human communications in the light of divine revelation. This task involves an expositional and a rhetorical component. He or she does this by explaining mysteries like the widespread human longing to connect with God or something God-like.

Informed generalizations

an educated speculation about the sender's motives and message meanings, one that is based on credible evidence that these are, in fact, very likely what you suppose they are

worldview

an individual's most basic assumptions about the way things truly are. is a composite of your beliefs about human origin, human nature, human purpose, and human destiny. also involves your beliefs about moral values and aesthetic values.

autonomous worldviews

are systems of belief that people develop on their own, primarily in response to what human standards have taught them to deem believable or acceptable.

social constructionism

assume that because each person experiences the world in a unique way, no two persons can come to see the world in exactly the same way, no matter how hard they try to do so. a person becomes what his or her socializing experiences precondition him or her to become.

common grace

denotes God's undeserved act of giving humans immeasurable blessings that they, because of their corruption, have no right to expect from Him. to unbelievers and believers

spiritual communication

denotes any situation in which fundamentally spiritual beings—that is, intelligent, moral beings who are capable of living without bodies—send meaningful messages to each other

special grace

extends this by offering humans a remedy for their spiritual alienation from Him. (salvation)

spiritual constitution

forms a person's worldview; God can open a person's eyes to otherwise indiscernible spiritual truths and use this revelation to transform a person's understanding of life's purpose and the right approach to living

physical constitution

forms a person's worldview; the bodily dynamics, like neurological and biochemical processes, that help to shape the individual's personality and, by extension, his or her openness to certain types of ideas, feelings, and behaviors

socialization

forms a person's worldview; the person's history of interactions with people whose input helps to shape the way he or she sees and acts toward the world

emancipation

goal of the postmodernist to promote misuses of power from privileged groups

exposition

goal of the postmodernist to show how social influencers can impact what people become and how privileged groups use this to promote themselves at others' expense

nonverbal messages

involve the use of meaningful symbols other than words for expression

nausea

is Sartre's term for the psychological pain one feels upon authentically realizing that one's communication with others is pointless

physical appearance

is a nonverbal communicative factor that can affect communication because of looks, this can impact the way people respond to each other.

delusional statements of belief/delusional person

is someone who does not know that such an inconsistency exists because he or she chooses to disbelieve in its existence, even though this person has reason for believing that it does

ignorant statements of belief/ignorant person

is someone who does not know that such an inconsistency exists because he or she has no reason to know that it exists.

dysphemism

is the use of a harsh term instead of a mild term for an intended effect. example: dinosaur instead of old person

euphemism

is the use of a mild term in place of a harsh term to relay the same basic idea in a more tasteful form. Example: pro-choice instead of pro-abortion

understatment

is the use of terms to diminish the seriousness or intensity of something. example: Hitler had a little problem with Jews

personification

is to ascribe human qualities to something that is not human example: the trees of the field shall clap their hands -Isaiah 55:12 ESV)

belief barriers to communication

miscommunication because of assumptions or generalizations about a certain person or group of people

Linguistic barriers to communication

misunderstanding because of differences that distinguish two or more people's language systems.

Proxemics

people send information to each other through their use of space

divine revelation

refers to situations in which God, whether directly or indirectly, imparts meaningful messages to humans

special revelation

refers to the messages that God discloses supernaturally through His Holy Spirit or through Scripture via the agency of the Holy Spirit. also includes His Biblically documented disclosures of information to humans via channels like miracles, dreams, soundings, appearances, and so forth

general revelation

refers to the nonverbal messages that God has imprinted on human consciousness or that come into human consciousness in response to what God discloses through nature.

physical determinism

see the universe as a self-created, self-sustaining machine, consisting of material particles and processes and nothing more than these, that invariably follows the course that physics has blindly programmed it to follow. Everything that happens, this view holds, happens because nature has programmed it to occur. History follows an inevitable course, and nothing can alter this.

hypocritical statements of belief/hypocrite

someone who is aware of and content to live with an inconsistency between the belief system he or she professes and the one he or she practices

The rhetorical approach to the study of communication

strives to identify and to explain the communicational steps people take in their various quests to establish points of oneness with others. To be more precise, this approach concentrates especially on how communicators deliberately use information, particularly verbal information, in their quests to convince others to adopt their own attitudes, values, beliefs, feelings, or behaviors.

stereotyping

the human tendency to form careless beliefs about people based on their features or group identities

Decoding

the recipient's act, of perceiving or understanding information sent from the sender

connotative meaning

the secondary meaning a recipient takes it to have when used in a particular situations.

Encoding

the sender's act, whether intentional or unintentional, of expressing his or her attitude, value, belief, or feeling in a tangible form, one that a recipient can perceive and decode in a way that results in shared understanding.

redemptive communication

the state of having actually connected with God in the God-centered way that enables one to start seeing things as He sees them and relating to them as He relates to them.

polychronic culture

these cultures have less schedule-oriented lives; a culture that has a relaxed attitude toward time and punctuality

monochronic culture

these cultures view time in a highly structured manner, reducing life to a series of tasks that are generally accomplished, one at at time, in a designated sequence. (Northern European and American cultures)

The expositional approach to the study of communication

this approach identifies, analyzes, and attempts to explain the existence of attitudes, values, beliefs, feelings, or behaviors that unify people as a whole or that come to unify particular groups of people.

synecdoche

this figurative form alludes to something by either highlighting only one aspect of it or something broader that includes it. Example: Washington as a reference to America's federal government

chronemics

this nonverbal communication form concerns time as a communicative factor

interpersonal communication

this term applies to situations in which people socially interact, usually in a face-to-face environment, but possibly also in a real-time virtual environments like through interactive radio, phone, and computer programs

The Biblically informed view of truth

this view recognizes the Bible as the ultimate source of Truth. is not a biochemical illusion or a social construction, but that which actually is the case, regardless of how it is perceived. As such, it is something to be discovered and to which people are accountable, regardless of whether they choose to believe it exists.