Chapter 1 - Introduction to Human Communication Flashcards
Messages
Building blocks if communication events.
Human Communication
A process in which people generate meaning through the exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages in specific contexts, influenced by individual and social forces, and embedded in culture.
Encoding
Taking ideas and conveying them in to messages.
Decoding
Receiving a message and interpreting it’s meaning.
Symbol
Something that represents something else and conveys meaning.
Content Meaning
The concrete meaning of the message, and the meanings suggested by or associated with the message and the emotions triggered by it.
Relationship Meaning
What a message conveys about the relationship between the parties.
Setting
The physical surroundings of a communication event.
Participants
The people interacting during communication.
Channel
The means through which a channel is communicated.
Noise
Any stimulus that can interfere with, or degrade, the quality of a message.
Feedback
The response to a message.
Synergetic Model of Communication
A transactional model based on the roles individuals and societal forces, contexts, and cultures play in the communication process.
Field of Experience
The education, life events, and cultural background that a communicator possesses.
Culture
Learned patterns of perceptions, values, and behaviors shared by a group of people.
Communication Ethics
The standards of right and wrong that one applies to messages that are sent and received.
Absolute
Pertaining to the belief that there is a single correct moral standard that holds for everyone, everywhere, every time.
Relative
Pertaining to the belief that moral behavior varies among individuals, groups, and cultures and across situations.
The process of critical thinking involves what five steps?
- Identify the assertion or action.
- Ask, “what is the evidence for and against the assertion or action?”
- Ask, “what does the evidence point to?”
- Ask, “what other explanations or conclusions are possible?”
- Continue to keep an open mind for new evidence and new ways of evaluating the assertion.
How does the study of communication differ from other social science disciplines?
It focuses exclusively on the exchange of messages to create meaning. Scholars in communication explore what, when, where, and why humans interact.
Why is communicating a complex activity?
It requires an in-depth understanding of how it works and the ability to apply one’s critical thinking skills to communication experiences to learn from and improve them.
What are the seven basic components of the communication process?
- Message Creation
- Message Meaning
- Setting
- Participants
- Channels
- Noise
- Feedback
In what ways does communication create meaning?
Through content meaning and relationship meaning.
How does the linear model of communication depict the communication process?
The transfer of information from one person to another. Communication occurred when a sender encoded a message that was sent to a receiver who decoded it. Then the process was reversed.
What does it mean that communication is a transactional process?
Depicts communication as occurring when two or more people create meaning as they respond to each other and their environment.
According to the Synergetic Model, what are the individual factors that influence the communication process?
- Demographics (age, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender/sex, sexual orientation, regional identity, socioeconomic class)
- Personality
- Cognitive ability
- Physical ability
- Field of experience (education and experiences)
Why is developing one’s own come of ethics important?
You will be better prepared to face difficult choices.
What are the three definitions offered for ethics?
- System of moral principles by which actions are judged as good or bad, right or wrong.
- The rules of conduct recognized by a group, class or individual.
- A belief system in which the determination of what is right is based on what promotes the most good or the common good.
